Screams in the halls
by MoniMcCoy
Summary: Dr. Margarita Hernandez never dreamed to see again the one whom she considered her childhood sweetheart. She also never dreamed to see him turned into a sadistic bloodthirsty monster. Now she had been pulled into his own personal nightmare, where she will have to choose between escaping him or staying with him forever. And she hasn't much time. RuvikXOC
1. Prologue: Into the Nightmare

**English is not my first language, so sorry for any mistake in grammar or vocabulary.**

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_She walked slowly through the rainy streets of Krimson. She didn't know where she was heading, nor did she care at all, she just had to go there. It was just like if some invisible force was leading her through the city._

_If anyone had bothered to take a close look at her, they would have noticed how empty her eyes were and how void of emotion the rest of her face was. But nobody did, for them she was just a lonely girl without an umbrella or a coat, wandering through the streets with no destination in mind._

_Her clothes were wet and cold and they stuck to her body, the same way her hair did to her face, she would probably catch a cold if she continued like that. Luckily for her, she had almost reached her destination._

_BEACON MENTAL HOSPITAL_

_She looked up at the huge statue of a cross that decorated the center of the entrance, as if it were important. Something in her head told her to run, to turn back and never come again, but soon that voice faded into nothing and she felt herself being pulled towards the building. Inside, it looked even creepier and darker than outside. But she didn't notice, and continued walking. A few of the staff members looked at her weird, some of the patients whispered and signaled her as if she was one of them, or something worse._

_One of the nurses grabbed her arm and asked if she was okay, she didn't notice but something inside her head made her mutter something related about needing to go to the bathroom. The nurse didn't seem entirely convinced, and orderred her to stay put while she went to fetch Dr. Jiménez. Of course, she didn't listen and continued her way through the halls until she arrived at one of the survilliance rooms._

_A guard sat there, looking bored at the monitors that showed the movements of the patients and their doctors. Before he had time to look at the intruder, she had already knocked him down crashing a glass bottle on his head._

_As a doctor, she should have been worried about the amount of blood that was emanating from the wound; but she didn't. She just waited patiently for something to arrive... or someone._

_The image the monitor's screen showed started to twicht, a buzzing sound comming from the video. The furniture started to tremble, the papers on the table and the shelves fell to the ground while the walls started to crack._

_The figure of a hooded and barefoot, slim man appeared behind her, snapping her out of her trance and making her look scared at her surroundings. How the hell had she ended there, with a bleeding man at her feet?_

_The man approached her from behind, until his lips where softly pressed against her neck_

"_We'll be reunited soon, my love." The man spoke with a low, quiet voice._

_And before she had time to turn back to see his face or scream for help, he injected a syringe on the other side of her neck and everything faded to black._

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	2. The Room

**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary, and if the characters seem a bit OOC. Enjoy the chapter :D**

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"_Come on, Margarita! Come and play with us!" A young voice said at her back._

_She turned and saw her two best friends standing behind her with a happy smile on their faces. The girl, obviously the elder of the two, had black hair and grey eyes, and wore a beautiful red dress that hug nicely her prominent teenage curves, she found herself jealous of her beauty. The boy, much younger than her sister, had blonde hair and the same grey eyes as his sibling, however, for some unkown reason, his seemed darker and more mysterious. _

_Just as she was about to answer them, an explosion was heard behind the two and the fire soon surrounded them, separating her from the two brothers. She wanted to scream, to run at them, but she soon found herself unable to move or speak. She was utterly paralized, unable to help them out._

_The two brothers just looked at her with their smiles plastered on their faces, even when the fire burned their clothes and charred their hair, even when their skin started to turn red, even when they were just two blackened corpses, they still stared at her, smiling._

Doctor Margarita Hernández awoke with a start, what had happened? Why was she suddenly having those dreams again? She blinked a few times until her eyes got got used to the dim light that illuminated the room. A room, in which she had never been before.

"Oh my God." She whispered when everything came crashing to her. The guard, the hooded man, the mental hospital, her wandering through the streets and that sweet voice in her head that had lulled her there.

Looking at her surroundings, she discovered that she was in a bedroom, an old bedroom with even older pieces of dark wooden furniture decorating it. There also were two doors at both sides of the bedroom and one double door on the front, facing the bed.

Jumping from the bed, Margarita stormed towards the front door, hoping it would help her escape from wherever she was being kept. But as soon as she tried to pry it open, she had the bad luck to discover it was locked shut.

Panic arose on her chest, and she trotted towards the door on the left hoping that it would lead her towards some way out from that mansion. It wasn't her lucky day, as this new door only lead to a bathroom bigger than her apartament's room.

Leaning over the sink, Margarita looked at her own reflection. Her usually warm filled brown eyes were bloodshot, and her long straight chestnut coloured hair was messy and dirty. She looked horrible, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that she had been abducted from a mental hospital.

Her clothes weren't wet anymore, but now they were cold and wrinkled; fortunately her captor had the decency of not undressing her while she was unconscious.

A suden crash on the door make her jerk backwards, almost hitting her head on the sink. She crawled towards the bath and got inside, drawing forth the curtains. She started to whimper when she heard the door bursting open with a hard tackle.

For a few seconds she didn't hear nothing just her heart beating furiously against her chest, then someone started walking slowly, taking heavy steps and making small grunts as if it was hard for him or her to walk.

Margarita felt herself freeze in fear when she heard those footsteps aproach the bathroom where she was hidden in. She held her breath when the person walked in, probably looking for her. Whoever or whatever it was, it smelled really bad, like rotten meat mixed with faeces and blood. Margarita had been a doctor, a forensic one by the way, since she graduated at twenty three; she was supposed to be able to endure those kinds of smell. But this was disgusting, even for her.

She felt the sudden urge to throw up everything she had eaten in the last twenty four hours, which wasn't much, but refrained herself from doing so since it would blow her cover. However the man, woman or thing was persistent and continued searching through the bathroom.

Just as it was about to draw back the curtains of the bath, it collapsed on the ground, letting out an agonyzing chilling shriek. It was so loud that she had to cover her own ears, to stop her timpani from tearing apart.

The screech lasted for over twenty seconds, before the creature that had produced it (since it was impossible that a human vocal apparatus could produce a sound like that) lifted itself from the ground and started walking towards the door as if nothing had happened. Only when it was away enough from her, she dared to peer through the curtain.

She wished she hadn't done so.

That man, that thing, had grey skin, dirty because the lack of bathing, his clothes seemed really old and tattered as if he had been wearing them for too long, which was probably the case. But the worse part of this undead monster was the huge nail piercing his head. It was gross, and completely impossible. How could the man be alive after that?

But the man was very alive, and walking, leaving a trail of blood following his steps, but walking anyway. A few seconds later, the door was closed again, and the sound of a key locking the door was heard. However she didn't dare to get out from the bath until two minutes have passed. Being careful to not step on the pools of blood that had been left, she exited the bathroom and collapsed on the bed. Soon, all the stress that had been accumulating on her body came back with a vengeance, as she broke into sobs over the green quilt.

She didn't know how much did she spent like that, crying like a silly little girl when she was denied cookies. Her father had taught her better than that, and she was never one to give up when things didn't go as planned.

With a great amount of effort she pulled herself up on the bed, not caring if she looked even worse than when she had awoken. There wasn't anyone to see her, and she really didn't care. Right now, her main goal was escaping from that mad house.

Margarita looked at the door on the right that had been forgotten.

"Hmmm... I wonder where this one leads to?" She mused to herself.

The door opened to reveal a small study, in the center of the room was located a small desk with a lamp whose light bulb was flashing over some papers. Approaching the desk, she saw a few drawings with bloodstains over them.

"I've seen this before..." Margarita muttered while looking at the pictures with her eyes narrowed.

The drawings were like they had been made by a small child. The first ones featured three small children, two girls and a boy. They seemed happy together, playing on a garden. The next ones were more grimful, as they had two of the children separated from the girl, the next ones featured the start of a fire in some kind of barn that had these two children inside. Margarita started to feel dizzy, but she couldn't help but still look at the drawings, the headache only got worse, but she couldn't stop. She needed to know what happened to those children. She started passing quickly the drawings until she got to the last one.

It was the two children that were caught in the fire, or what was left of them. One of the two, she didn't know who it was as they now were reduced to black corpses, was laying on the ground, while the other one stood up, as if it was looking directly at her. She dropped the pictures in shock.

A sharp pain on her head was the last thing she noticed before passing out on the study's floor.

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	3. The Withered Daisies

**Thanks for all the encouragement! Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary and if the characters look a bit OOC. Enjoy the chapter :D**

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_She was young again, and the pain on her head had miraculously vanished. She stood on a small garden that was behind which she thought was her house. She was analazying some poor bird that have been found dead on the ground, trying to figure out the causes of its death, before giving it a proper burying._

_Footsteps could be heard approaching her, and she cautiously stood up, thinking it was her father or any other person. But instead, it was the same boy from her last dream with a shy look on his eyes and a hand behind his back._

"_Rubén?" She asked titling her head curiously._

"_Hi Margarita." He said with a small smile on his face._

"_What are you doing here?" Margarita asked confused. Don't get her wrong, she liked to hang out with the Victoriano's children, since they seemed to be the only good kids in the entire village; but they used to meet at their mansion, mainly because her house was always full of boring patients that for some reason seemed to hate the Victoriano family._

"_I had a talk with Laura, and she told me you loved daisies, since it's what your name means in english. So I went to the backyard and found this."_

_He pulled his arm from his back, showing a bouquet of daisies of different colours. She had never seen something more beautiful._

"_Thanks Rubén, it's really beautiful. I love it." She said smiling at him._

_Rubén's smile widened, and she found herself liking his smile. He should do it more frequently. She vowed herself to make him smile, no matter what._

Margarita awoke to the smell of lemon tea, pastries and... flowers? Her head ached as if she had a hangover, it seemed that having a good sleep didn't help at all. However, she wondered, how did she end on the bed when she passed out on the study?

Her stomach started to grumble and she took it as a signal that she would have to think about that subject later, now it was time to eat.

On a small table on one of the corners of the room was a tea tray with two cups, a teapot and a plate of pastries. Just as she was about to get up and eat something, she noticed that there have been a few changes in the room.

Firstly, the blood trail that that creature had left the day before was gone, as if it had never been there. And secondly the room seemed to be full with jars with bouquets of daisies of many different colours, probably the causants of the flowerly smell.

Approaching one of the bouquets, she smelled it and enjoyed its natural fragance. It seemed so familiar to her, just like when she was young...

The temperature on the room dropped and Margarita froze in horror. Someone was there with her, watching her, and probably getting ready to pounce on her. When she turned her body around, she was met with nothing. But she swore she had felt someone there just a few seconds ago, looking at her.

"Who's there?" She asked as bravely as she could. No response.

"I'm not afraid of you." She tried again, while getting ready to strike at her stalker with the jar that contained the daisies, in case he or she decided to make an appearence . And again she obtained no response.

The room's temperature returned to normal, and she was able to breath in relief, sensing that whoever was there had gone. However, something that hadn't gone was her hunger and the tea and the pastries seemed really tantalizing. She needed to regain her strenght if she wanted to think of a way to escape.

Taking a sip of the hot cup of Lemon tea, she marvelled at its taste, feeling a familiar warmth through her body. And then she wasn't a lonely adult anymore, she was a little girl having a tea party with her dad and her two best friends, talking about the patients, about science, about...

She spat the drink and screamed.

"Blood!"

The lemon bitter flavor was replaced by a more metallic one. The stain that the liquid she had spat had formed on the ground was a dark red colour, as the liquid that was now in the cup. Margarita throwed the cup into the ground, shattering it into pieces.

Putting one hand to her mouth, she observed how much the place had changed in a few seconds. The daisies were withered, and the pastries seemed to be covered in some kind of mold. Margarita started to feel nauseus, she fell on her butt and crawled towards the bathroom.

Once there, she leaned over the toilet and emptied the contents of her already empty stomatch. She didn't feel any better after that, in fact, she felt worse, weaker. It wasn't healthy for her.

Trying to remove from her mouth the taste of bile, she turned on the sink and drank from the water, which thanks to the old pipes it had too much calcium oxide to be good. But that'll have to serve for now. Reeling she returned to the room, only to find it as it had been before, with the flowers intact, the cup shattered and replaced with a new one, and the supposed blood stain vanished from the floor.

Fear and wariness crept through her body, someone had been in the room while she had been away. She hadn't heard any door or window opening, so whoever it was, must still be there. Walking slowly, trying to do as less noise as possible, she searched under the bed and in the closets. She found nothing.

With trembling limbs, Margarita went for the door on the right, the study were she had passed out the day before. Her heart was in her throat and with a shaky hand, she reached for the doorknob. The door opened with a heavy creak, and Margarita swallowed hard before daring to peer into the room. Like it happened with the closets and the bed, she didn't found anyone in the room. Just shelves with antique books, a des with a chair and a lamp and an old gramophone. The drawings seemed to have disappeared, though.

Feeling relieved, she returned to the bedroom, specifically to the corner where the tea tray still was. Even if she still felt digusted and repulsed by the mere memory of the blood in the teacup and the moldy pastries, she wasn't going to starve herself to death. It was obvious that whoever had taken her there was trying to play games with her mind, making her think she was going crazy. That hallucinations were probably related to the drug that make her fall unconscious on the surveillance room.

Maybe she had imagined everything since she came there, the man with the nail on his head, the blood, the drawings, the blood on the tea... maybe whoever made that drug was still administrating it to her, while she slept, while she drank while she touched something...

It was a plausible theory, and it did something to soothe Margarita's nerves. She had been doing this since she was a little girl, everytime she found something that was far from normal she tried to find some scientifical explanation to make her feel better with herself. However, that didn't stop that desilusional part of her brain from telling her that everything she had seen, touched and tasted, must be somehow real.

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	4. The Rat

**Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement! They help me to keep writing! Enjoy! :D**

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"_I know you're in there, Rubén. Come out, please. You're starting to scare me."_

_The young Margarita roamed through the endless halls of the Victoriano's mansion with an aura of fear surrounding her. She had never liked that house, it was too dark and too scary. The paintings were creepy, and the books, though fascinating, showed too graphical pictures of tortured and suffering people. _

_The manor decorations showed a firm religious beliefs. Indeed, Mister Ernesto Victoriano was a strict religious man who dedicated all his life to his church and his mission as a believer. No matter how good his children were, Margarita couldn't stand a man who was willing to put his social status and his God, before his own family._

_Beatriz Victoriano was no better woman than him. Though she was sweet and gentle as any mother should be, she was sumissive with her husband, always disposed to be at his beck and call. Even when her husband treated her like dirt._

_She rounded a corner, where she found a small storeroom, with a shelve in front of what looked like a hidden door. Using all her strenght, which at her age wasn't much, she managed to push the shelve to one side. The door led to small hallway, which had at the end another door, only this time it seemed to be left ajar._

_When she put a foot in the passage, the first thing she noticed was the smell. A horrible smell like death and manure all mixed together. It was disgusting, but she could see a little light at the end of the corridor, so she continued moving fowards._

_The closer she got to the room, the more able she was to hear someone talking, and sometimes, humming. Peering her head through the door, she saw Rubén sitting on a tool, with his back to her and something in his hands._

"_You don't need to worry, you'll soon feel better." He spoke to no one in particular._

_Tip-toeing, Margarita approached her friend and looked over his shoulder at whatever he was doing. She gasped loud enough for him to jump from his seat when she saw the dead rat with the opened skull on his hands. Rubén turned around harshly and hided the poor animal at his back._

"_What are you doing here?" He asked roughly, trying to show that she hadn't surprised him._

"_D-did you do that to that rat?" She asked trying to not look at the bloodstained table that was at her right, she almost could see tiny bits of rodent brain matter scattered there._

"_Yes." He muttered, without meeting her eyes._

_They both stood awkardly, without looking at each other for a couple of minutes. Finally, Rubén dared to break the silence._

"_I know its disgusting." He said defensively, crushing the poor rat's corpse in his hand._

"_Yes, it is." She said truthfully, not noticing how his face fell. She continued talking. "But I still like you. I honestly would prefer to experiment without harming any innocent creature and I still think that what you have done is wrong, however you're my friend and I'll love you no matter what."_

_Rubén lifted his eyes from the floor and looked at her, an atonishing look on his face. He felt relieved at not having lost her._

Margarita fluttered her eyes open and sat on the bed. Why? Why was she dreaming about him now? It had been so long and it had taken so much effort on her part to forget about him. He and Laura were dead, so why was she having those dreams now?

Maybe it did help her feel a bit more secure, since she didn't really had anyone in the world, her parents being long ago dead. Only her friend Seraphina worried about her, but she was now engaged, and with so much planning to do she barely had time to pay her a proper visit or go to the cinema as they did when they were young and free.

Margarita wished she was back at her place, her not so horribly tiny but cozy apartment, with her plants, her books, her bathtub... Oh how much she missed her bathtub, where she could relax after a hard day at work, taking an extra-bubble bath with a glass of red wine on her hand...

Which reminded her, she hadn't taken a bath in ages, taking a close sniff at her brown jumper, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. She needed a change of clothes and a good bath, and the old nineteenth century bathtub would probably fullfill all her needs.

She wavered towards the bathroom's door, and once there, she locked the door, making sure nobody would enter while she was taking a bath. However, she had only seen that man creature on her first day there and she wasn't completely sure if she had really seen him. But better safe than sorry.

Margarita, had her doubts about taking her clothes, she didn't have any wash machine, what was she supposed to do with them? It seemed that the bathtube was her only option. She would have to wash them there and then wait until they were dry enough to wear. She opened the bath taps to prepare herself a warm bath, nevertheless the water that came out was cold as ice.

"No warm bath for me today." She mumbled, almost wanting to cry. Everything was going to hell, she had been abducted, drugged, kept locked in a room and now her captor couldn't even giver her warm water. She was trying so hard to be a bit positive thinking there could be a way of escaping, but now, Margarita was starting to see how stupid she had been. There was no hope for her.

She took sharp breaths trying to calm herself. 'It's just a bath' She thought. 'Just take it and don't give up.'

With shaky hands she undressed and entered into the freezing water, shivering when her skin made contact with the cold. At least that would get her clean. After she had made sure she was completely clean and that horrible smell had vanished, she stepped from the tub and left her clothes there to clean itselves.

Unlocking the door, she ran towards the bed, hoping its duvets could cover her nakedness. Her body had little to offer, but what little she had, was still good enough for any men to spy on her. And she would be very embarrassed of that.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a white dress that probably came to her knees with two blue straps on the bottom of it laying over the bed . It wasn't the fact that it was there what scared her the most, her blood ran cold when she noticed that it looked excatly like the one she used to wear back in her younger days, when she was playing with the Victoriano kids.

It crossed her mind that whoever had abducted her, knew her from the past and had met her as a kid. The dress couldn't be the same one she wore, since it wouldn't fit on her, even if she hadn't grown so much during her teenhood.

A tap on the window make her turn her head. Putting the dress on, since it was the only option, she went to look through the surprisingly clean glass windows. Outside, there was too much fog, she could barely see anything. Margarita couldn't help but feel disappointed, as those windows had had their glass so dirty it was nearly impossible to see through them. And now that they were clean, it had to be foggy outside! It was as if fate didn't want her to find the way out.

The room suddenly started to feel cold, colder than it had already been. She could feel herself starting to shiver on her thin dress. Her feet felt numb over the cold marble tiles. She suddenly started to feel very sleepy. Before closing her eyes and falling on the bed. She thought she saw the figure of a man holding a rat on his hands.

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How much she had changed, how much he had missed her. She was now a woman, not the prettiest, nor the most gracious but she was _his_. And soon they'll be reunited, he would embrace her and make her love, as he had been dreaming all those years ago. She wouldn't hide from his hideous face, because it wouldn't be hideous anymore. He would have the beautifully young appearence of that deliciously compatible subject. Soon they'll be out. And together, they'll be unstoppable.

He crushed the rat on his hand, blood pouring through his fingers.

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	5. The Desire

**Thanks for all the encouragement! It helps me to keep writing!**

**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary and if some character seem a bit OOC.**

**A/N: This chapter was very horrible and hard for me, since this is never pleasant to write. But I want Rubik to be the psychotic bastard he's in the game, so I had to write this.**

**Warning: Contains rape.**

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_Margarita was running through a sunflower camp. Looking back she saw faceless man giving her chase. No matter how much and how fast she ran, the sunflower camp seemed to have no end. Her legs where starting to tire, her lungs where burning with the need of air. But she couldn't stop running, though she didn't remember why she was being chased. Between the shouts aimed at her, she could distinguish something like 'Damned Victorianos!' and 'We'll show those richies who's the boss here!'._

_She was starting to lose hope in escaping them, as they were too many and too fast and she was only one and her limbs protested in fatigue._

"_Over here!" A feminine voice called._

_Suddlenly, as if by magic, a barn appeared at not more than fifty feet from her. Turning to the left, she sprinted towards the barn. The men where hot on her heels, armed with torches and pitchforks, that give her the impulse to ran faster._

_Entering the barn she closed the door and managed to lock it. She turned around harshly when she heard a girl's laugh. She looked for the source of the sound, but she found none. Stepping to the center of the barn she started to feel some sense of familiarity with the barn. A feeling she had tried so hard to hide. Those were memories she had tried so hard to forget._

_The room started to feel hot, and a smell of burnt wood filled her nostrils. Turning back she saw the fire, and the girl in the red dress who was burning in it._

Ruvik observed the wriggling woman on the bed. She was so innocent, so pure, so weak; a beautiful flower in a field of corpses. That's how he had always described her. His flower, his precious flower, the only good thing on his life besides Laura. But now Laura was dead, and he only had her.

His eyes roamed lustfully through her body. Her body had developed well, her breasts were fuller, not much but they were probably perfect for her, and for him. Her hips were a bit wider, perfect for giving him his children, perfect for mating.

He had been waiting for too long. He would take her tonight. Maybe he didn't have a corporeal form in the real world, but this was his world and he would make her his as a normal man would do.

He lifted a hand and teared her dress open, showing him the nakedness of her body. Perfect, as he had thought, though she would have to win a bit of weight if he wanted her to carry his seed.

Margarita opened her eyes slowly, feeling the sudden cold and the presence on the front of the bed. The fear started coiling in her stomach and her heart started beating faster as she saw the ghostly presence in front of her, looking at her intently. Since his hood was pulled up, she couldn't see his face and recognise him, though his chest was opened to her and it lookeed like it had been gravelly burned. But that didn't matter now, she was naked on the bed, her body exposed to him. And he... he was smirking.

She let out a blood chilling scream and tried to get away from him and his cadaverous appearence. However, it seemed he was in control of the situation, since from under the bed arose five rose vines, which tangled itselves around her wrists, ankles and mouth; the sharp thornes piercing her skin and making her bleed. Her shrieks were muffled by the vine that tightly covered her mouth shut. She could taste her own blood in her tongue.

The man, because she was almost sure that that thing was male, climbed the bed and positioned himself between her legs. He pulled from his cloak something, a syringe, with a green liquid. He was going to drug her before taking her.

She felt a flash of pain and then passed out on the bed, at his complete mercy. But not before hearing him whisper to her. "I love you, Margarita."

As she fell asleep, Ruvik smiled to himself and gently caressed her cheek.

"I promise I won't be too harsh, my love."

He make his pants vanish, and put his erect cock near her entrance. Not being able to contain himself anymore he lowered his head to her chest and put his burned mouth around one of her nipples and sucked it as gently as he could. Margarita sighed softly in her slumber, oblivious to the pain the vines brought to her, centering only in the pleasure he could give her.

He turned his attention to her neck, kissing his way over there, the skin was softer there and it had a small scent of daisies, just as he remembered her to have. Ruvik bit the skin there, not hard enough to draw blood, yet, however he took great pleasure in licking away the blood that the vine's thornes had caused.

His hard prick demanded to be buried in her warm heat, so who was he to deny him? In one powerful thrust he entered her, causing a small whimper to fall from her lips, but soon subsided as the drug worked its magic.

The pace he set was ruthless and merciless, years of accumulating hate and need disappearing in the heat of the moment. Ruvik grabbed a tight hold of her forearms, which probably would leave bruises; but he didn't care. He needed it, and he would get what he wanted at any cost.

He felt his own release close, so he increased the speed and force of his thrusts. Once he came, he let out a powerful scream and let go of her. When she woke up, she would feel scared and violated, but everything would pass as soon as she knew it had been him.

The vines that held her disappeared within the ends of the bed, but her wounds remained present. He would take care of them later, while the drug remained on her body. Now he needed to lay with her, to feel her soft body pressed against his own hideous one, to hold her hand as they did when they were children, and avobe all, he needed to feel loved again.

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	6. The Call

**Thanks for all the encouragement! It helps me to keep writing.**

**A/N:I had to take a small break after the last chapter.**

**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes. Enjoy :D**

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Seraphina Harrison soon to be Williams had always been described as a carefree and cheerful woman. There was almost nothing that would really give her the creeps, no matter how awful it was. She always kept an overly positive actitude and never backed down from a challenge. That was until she decided to check on her friend's welfare.

She hadn't been seeing Margarita as much as she would have wished to, planning a wedding was really hard. You have to take care of the guests, the seats, the church, the decorations, the flowers, the food, the restaurant, the invitations... And given the great 'enthusiasm' of her fiance and soon to be husband, she had to deal with it all by herself. She swore she sometimes desired to smack on the head to Albert with a baseball bat. That cheeky slacker.

Anyway she needed a break, and how could she relax better than paying a visit to her best girl friend since uni? She dialed her number in her phone.

"_Hi! I'm Margarita, and now I'm probably working so leave a message when the signal rings and I'll call you. ... Is it over? Do I really need to have this voicemail, Seraphi- *BIP!*"_

Seraphina frowned and hung the phone, she always had her mobile on. It wasn't her to turn it off or ignore it, not even when she was working on an autopsy. She tried calling again. And again she recived the same voice mail.

"Margarita? It's me, Seraphina. You weren't answering your phone, so I'm leaving you this message. I hoped that if you had time we could hang out later, you know like the good old times. Anyway, call me later when you're finishe- *BIP!*"

She really hoped she would call her later.

Later that night, while Albert got ready for bed, she stood over the bed, looking at her phone. There was not even a fucking message, nor a voicemail or a missed call. What the hell was wrong with her? Confused she dialed her house's number. And waited. There was no response.

Bitting her lip in worry, she tried to call again. And again, no one answered. She felt the bed shift when Albert sat on her, and soon, two strong arms embracing her from behind and two warm lips deposited kisses on her neck.

"You ready for bed, hun?" Albert whispered in her ear. She couldn't stop the pleasured shiver that ran down her spine, but now she wasn't in the mood for a passionate session of lovemaking. Not when her friend was missing.

"I'm not in the mood, Albert. Please I'm tired." She said with a sour tone while still looking at her phone. Seraphina felt her fiance sigh in resignation.

"You don't need to worry about her; you know Margarita, she's a grown independent woman. She's probably on a vacation."

"But she never takes a vacation! At least not without calling us first!" She sid exhasperated.

"Maybe she didn't want to bother you, since y- us have been too busy with the wedding preparations." Albert tried to soothe her, even when he knew that they were the only friends in Margarita's life, and that she would never take a vacation without advising them first to take her of her plants. However, he didn't want to upset his wife to be so he remained silent.

Seraphina was to tired to think more about the issue, so she opted to get in the bed with her future hubby and get some decent sleep. Maybe tomorrow thinks would clear by itselves.

She didn't know how wrong she was.

* * *

The next four days remained the same, without any news from Margarita. Seraphina tried to relax, thinking about what her fiance had said to her. Maybe she had taken a small break from work and everything, and not wanting to bother them a month before their wedding she hadn't called them.

The more she thought about it, the more she seemed to believe it. Albert was right, she was a grown woman, with her own mind. If she wanted to take a vacation, she took them without needing to consult anyone about her decision. And the next two days she believed that, until in the ninth day of her disapparition she got a strange call from Mr. Harold, the director of St. Lorenzo Hospital.

"Hello?"

"_Are you familiar of Dr. Hernández?" _His voice sounded pissed, like really pissed.

"No, but I'm her friend. Did you need something from her?" She inquired.

"_Yes, I need to know why the devil she hasn't appeared at the hospital in two weeks without advising us first! Is she sick? Does she have any problem?"_ The man snarled through the phone.

'Two weeks!? She has been missing work for two weeks!?' She thought with her heart on her throat.

"D-do you want to deliver a message for her?" She said, proud that her worry hadn't made her stammer too much.

"_Yes! Tell her that if she doesn't come by tomorrow, she shouldn't bother to come anymore, because she will be fired!" _And he hang, making her cringe at his tone of voice.

With shaking hands she dialed the number of Albert.

"Sera, are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Albert, I need you to come with me to Margarita's apartment. I think that something may have happened to her."

* * *

The square were Margarita's flat was located was small, surrounded by trees and with a small playground on the center. It was always a cheery place with all those children playing. Now, for Seraphina, it could possibly be the scene of a crime. Albert had told her many times that she shouldn't watch to many crime shows, but what could she possibly think when her best friend and probably bridesmaid was missing?

Ordering Albert to stay in the car, she climbed the steps towards the third floor, and when she found herself in front of the door, Seraphina took a deep breath and pulled the spare keys Margarita had given her in case of emergency. The moment the door was opened she hesitantly pushed it open and gasped at the sight.

Everything seemed a mess. The bookcases where empty since all the books where sprawled on the floor, the furniture were overturned and the windows were broken. It looked like a tornado had been in the room.

Taking slow steps, she headed towards the only bedroom, the door seemed to be left ajar. Her blue eyes widened in horror.

Thousands of papers were sprawled through the room. But the most disturbing thing was that in each one of them was written in different types and sizes the same word, or name.

_RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK _

_RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK_

_RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK RUVIK..._

The ring of the phone made her jump in fright. Returning to the living room, she caught a glimpse of a small phone under the sofa. Thinking it was her boss calling again, she went for it.

"Hello?" She was greeted with static noises.

Seraphina had to cover her ears, but that only made the sounds to grow louder. Her head was starting to ache, she could feel her brain pulse in her skull. The pain was too much. And then she heard it.

"_SHE. IS. MINE." _A distorted voice screamed at her through the static noises.

Seraphina dropped the phone to the ground and fell to her knees clutching her head. It was going to explode anytime soon if that static noises didn't stopped.

And then, they disappeared, as if nothing had happened. Crawling away from the phone, she ran towards the door and then sprinted towards the car, not caring if the door was left open. She didn't want to be there anymore.

Albert as soon as he saw her appear, opened the door for her and ushered her into the car.

"Honey, are you ok?" He asked looking in the verge of panic.

"Yes I am. Now start the car." She answered in a small voice.

"But Seraphina, you're bleeding."

She touched her upper lip, it was smeared with blood. At some point during her stay in Margarita's apartment, her nose had started to bled. It probably had been caused by that creepy phone call. She shuddered at the memory.

"I'm alright Albert." She said calmer, but with fear on her heart for her friend. "But I need you to drive me to the nearest police station."

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	7. The Detective

**Thanks for all the encouragement! It helps me to keep writing!**

**A/N: This chapter was a** bit hard to write**.**

**Warnings: Mentions of rape and suicide.**

**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes.**

* * *

_She wasn't sure if she could endure another day listening to his voice. She knew he wasn't dead, Laura probably was, but he wasn't. She had had him on her arms while they waited the ambulance to arrive, she had gently caressed his burned face, promising him over and over again that everything would be alright._

_The next day when she asked his father abour his health, she was told in a cold way that he had died, along his sister, and that she shouldn't bother to come there again. She had been crushed, crying in front of the Manor's closed door, thinking that everything she had, had been taken away from her._

_And then she heard it._

_'Help!' It was a faint sound, if it had been weaker she would't have heard it. But she heard it anyway. It sounded just like him._

"_Rubén?" She obtained no response. Anyone whom she told this would think she had imagined it, but she knew what she had heard._

_The next day, ignoring Mister Victoriano's warnings, she returned to the same spot. Hoping to hear it again. And just like the day before, there it was._

_'Help!' This time it sounded louder, like if he was sobbing. Margarita's heart tore in two hearing her friends suffering. Why would Mister Victoriano lie to her? Why did he tell her Rubén had died too? Anyway, the voice seemed to come from the bottom of the mansion, specifically the basement, what was he doing there? He needed to recover from the fire!_

_Margarita slipped through the servant's entrance, hoping nobody would notice her, as they all seemed to be mourning the supposed death of the Victoriano children. On all fours, she arrived towards the main hall, which had a side door which left to the basement. Looking around to ensure she wouldn't get caught she approached the door and turned the knob. It was locked, she didn't count that it could be locked. Now she would have to search for the ke-_

_A hand grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back, making her fall on her butt._

"_What are you doing here!? I told you to not come back!" A fumming Ernesto Victoriano screamed at her while he loomed over her._

"_B-but sir, I've heard Rubén asking for help, he's still ali-"_

_A sharp slap on her left cheek make her fall again to the ground._

"_You little witch! Spawn of Dalila! Servant of Satan! How dare you to come to my house after having lost my two children to that burning hell and tell me that they are still alive?!"_

_Margarita's cheek stang from the pain and her eyes were full of tears._

"_But I heard him..." She whimpered, and she received another slap, harder than the last one._

"_My son is dead! Just like his sister!" He bellowed, grabbing her roughly by her elbow and leading her towards the basement door. He pulled out a bunch of keys from his pocket, and opened the door, almost shoving her inside that darkened room._

"_There's nothing in there! Nothing to see!" He bellowed at her while leading her towards the front door. Margarita was crying now in pain and fear._

"_Please, mister, you're hurting me!" She sobbed, but she wasn't listened._

_Ernesto Victoriano opened the front door and pushed her roughly outside, making her fall and scratch her elbows and knees. He then closed the door on her with a resounding slam. Margarita managed to lift herself up from the ground and ignoring her aching limbs she ran sobbing towards her house. However, the memory started to change, and soon she found herself teleported to the front of a small window in the garden, where she could see and hear a disfigured boy howling in rage and pain._

Margarita reluctantly opened her eyes. It had all been a dream. But that was so real, the vines, the blood, the man. Looking at her wrists she only saw creamy human skin, not even a drop of blood, she couldn't taste it on her mouth either. And her dress was as good as new.

She tried to pull out, but a sharp pain in her lower middle section made her freeze. It burned, a lot, and not in a menstruating way. Her breath caught in her throath when finally acknowledging the thruth.

That hadn't been a dream, the man had raped her and now she was his whore. He had humilliated her in the worst way possible.

A sob tore through her throat as tears ran freely down her cheeks. She was a disgusting piece of meat, a sexual toy, a dirty slut. Nobody would want her now.

Her body started convulsing in fear and pain, and she found it hard to breath. As a doctor, she knew she was hyperventilating and going into shock, but as a recent victim of a rape she couldn't find any fuck to give.

With trembling limbs and ignoring the ache within her legs, she stumbled towards the bathroom where she took a good look at herself in the mirror. She only caught a glimpse of a crying girl with bloodshot eyes, messy hair and red cheeks, before throwing a soap to her reflection, shattering the glass into million of pieces that fell at her feet.

She grabbed one of the glasses, and positioned it pointing to her chest, where her heart was beating with pain and humiliation. Now she knew there was only one way to escape that nightmare, it may be the coward's way but she had always been labelled as a coward, so why not die like one? The glass descended fast to sink on her chest, she could almost feel its sharpness pierce her ski-

"NO!" A masculine voice thundered through the room at the same time the temperature dropped.

The sharp glass vanished from her hand, and so did the others that where on the ground. Margarita trembled in shock. She couldn't even take her own life, all the shame was replaced with anger.

"WHY!? WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT FROM ME NOW!?" She collapsed to the ground, her body shaking with the sobs that tore through her.

"Why are you doing this?" She whispered between sobs.

She didn't know how much time she spent like that, crying with her head buried on her knees, time never seemed to pass when you were a prisioner.

A gunshot was heard on the outside and Margarita jumped to her feet. Had someone finally called the police? Were they going to rescue her? The sound of a vicious scream was heard and heavy footsteps approached her room. And suddenly she wasn't so sure if whoever was there was comming to rescue her. Fear took a hold of her body, but even so, she grabbed a jar and stood beside the front doors.

The doorknob turned slowly. She could hear someone reloading his gun, when she caught a small glimpse of him or her, she crashed the jar on his or her head, shattering into pieces and making him, as she now could see it was male, fall into the ground with a shriek of a mix of pain and surprise.

Margarita didn't expect him to get up so fast, and soon she found herself at the end of a shotgun, which was instantly lowered as he saw who he was pointing.

"Why the fuck did you do that?" The man, taller than her, with pale skin, a two days beard and hair sliced back, demanded.

"I-i thought you were one of those things." She muttered. The man sighed in resignation.

"How long have you been there?" He asked her.

"I-i don't know." She answered. She truly didn't know how much time she had been trapped there. It could have been days, or weeks.

The man rolled his eyes. "Fucking great." He grumbled. "Alright, let's get us out of this fucking hellhole."

Before he could take another step, Margarita grabbed his arm. "Wait!"

The armed man looked at her annoyed. "What?"

"I need to change my clothes."

The man's eyes widened. "Really miss? We are going to fight psychotic monsters not going to a tea party!" But she didn't listen to him.

The first thing Margarita did when she arrived at the bathroom was taking that dress off, she never wanted to see it again. She pulled her old clothes from the bathtub and dressed up, ignoring how cold they felt on her skin. Looking at herself in the mirror, she could see in her eyes how wrecked she was and how hard it was going to be for her to recover from the trauma. She forced herself to put it aside now she had a chance to return home, but she also promised to herself she would deal with it later and take as much help as she needed. But now, escaping was the priority.

She stepped from the bathroom and got ready to follow the man to what he had so elegantly described as a 'fucking hellhole'.

"The name is Sebastián, by the way; Detective Sebastián Castellanos." He said without looking at her.

"Dr. Margarita Hernández." She mumbled while she looked hesitantly at the amount of guns he had with him.

"Well, 'Dr. Hernández' this is not going to be a walk in the park. An horrible death is what we are going to face here. So I recommend you to stay as close to me as possible, and if I were you, I would pray to have a good aim." Sebastián said while handing her a small service pistol. "Because you're definitely going to need it. Now, let's go."

As soon as they stepped out from the room, as she looked at her surroundings Margarita's worse fears were confirmed. It was someone who knew her from her past who had brought her there, because the place where she had been staying, as she observed with a heart full of fear and anxiety, was no other than the Victoriano's mansion.

* * *

Ruvik watched with a heart full of rage as his subject and his bride stepped out from the guest's room. How dare he? Who did he think he was? She was his! He didn't have any right to take her away from him. He needed her... to feel a bit sane.

As for Margarita, why would she try to take her own life? Didn't she see that they were meant to be together? He had expected her to be scared, to be hurt, as his lovemaking had been quite unexpected and harsh for their first time. But he had never thought she would go to that lenghts.

She was the last piece that remained of his sanity, and he was starting to break her.

For the first time Ruvik wondered if she would still love him after that.

* * *

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	8. The Crusher

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**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes, English is not my first language.**

**Enjoy the chapter! :D**

* * *

That wasn't the mansion she remembered. The Victoriano's manor had always been gloomy and dark, but not this deteriorated. As she ran through the bloody passages along Sebastian she shuddered thinking about what horrible things could have happened there while she was gone. The detective remained cold and impassive, he looked like he had seen worse places.

"What are we exactly looking for?" Margarita asked, hoping it would start some kind of conversation. She didn't know what scared her the most, the state of the manor or the lack of conversation between her and her supposed savior.

"Something, a hidden door or passage that can lead us to the final piece of the puzzle." His answer wasn't the most reassuring, in fact, she didn't understand anything he had said, but at least she had managed to break the silence that he had sumersed in.

"But I thought Victoriano's manor didn't have any hidden passages."

That brought the detective to a halt. With a frown, he turned towards her, never lowering his gun.

"And how do you know that?" He asked cautiously. Margarita took a deep breath, she didn't like talking about her past, and less to a stranger she had just met. But said stranger, as a member of Krimson's Police Force, if his plate was any indication to go by, and was currently pointing a gun towards her, so she'd better make an exception.

"Because I think I have been here before." She said as casually as she could, though she could feel her knees shaking. Sebastian narrowed his eyes, pondering if he should believe her or not. Finally, he opted for believing her, since she didn't seem to be any kind of danger to him. However, that lead him towards the question of why had she been brought there on the first place, but decided to leave that for later. His priority now was to find the others and get out of that hell.

"Then I hope you know about any hidden hall or doors, because it would get us out of here faster." He grumbled under his breath.

As he walked away from her, she couldn't help but notice that he seemed to limp of one leg. It looked like it hurted him a lot. Maybe if she could take a look...

"Do you need help with your leg? I know it's not my area of practice but I studied enough to help you with it."

Sebastián turned around to face her, a grimace on his face when he leaned on his wounded leg.

"We don't have enough time, Doctor. I appreciate your concern, I really do. But I think it would be for the best if we continued." He said with the ghost of a grateful smile on his lips.

Nodding her head quickly, she clutched the gun to her chest, and followed the man through the now empty and gloomy halls of the manor. She should have felt relieved that she was in a familiar place, in a place where she knew she could easily escape. But something was off. Who had brought her there? Why was she there? The only culprit she could think about was the head of the Victoriano family.

The though of Ernesto Victoriano send a shiver down her back and froze the blood in her veins. It had been nearly twenty six years since that fateful fire that took away Rubén and Laura's lifes, and she highly doubted that the man was smart enough to create that plan. Furthermore, the man that had... She had to take a deep breath and force those thoughts to the back of her mind, now wasn't the time or the place to break down in sobs, that would have to come later, when she was speaking to a profesional. The man who had abducted her, though she couldn't see his face, had a young psyque, Mr. Victoriano should be in his sixties by now.

A young girl's laugh echoed through the hallways and both of them stopped dead on their tracks.

"Laura?" Margarita whispered.

"Not that thing again." Sebastián mumbled low enough for her to not hear him. "Did you hear that? Because it sounded pretty close, lets get moving."

As they walked through the darkened passages, they started to hear an anguished moan, that got louder the more they approached it. Following her medical instincts and ignoring the sharp pain between her legs, she passed the detective and ran towards the source of the sound, ignorig his calls for her to get back. The more she ran, the clearer she could hear that poor creature, she also could hear Sebastián's limping footsteps as he gave chase to her. She felt bad for making him run with his wounded leg, but it had been his decision to run after her, not hers.

Stopping into what once had been an organised library, she approached warily the body that lay whimpering in the ground. When she was near enough she crouched next to him and caressed his arm.

"It's okay, don't worry. We can help you get out of here." She whipered in her 'soothing' voice, the one she used with the family of the deceased. The same moment, Sebastián ran through the door, pointing a gun at the man.

"Margarita! Get away from it!" He screamed firing his gun.

Margarita, turned her head just at the moment when the man grabbed her wrist and cut her arm with the knife he was holding. She cried in pain, clutching her arm and trying to pry it away from that thing. But it wouldn't let go of her. A bulled passed nearly milimeters from her nose and crushed against the creature's skull, passing through it and leaving an ugly looking hole. The creature fell dead to the ground, if it wasn't already dead and was some kind of zombie. Putting pressure on her wound with her hand she crawled the best she could from it, an horrified look on her face, which turned even more horrified when she saw Detective Castellanos pulling out a match from his pants' pocket and throwing it at him to burn its body. She was yanked back from her stupor by Sebastián, who pulled her up taking care of her wounded arm.

"Come on! They have probably heard us! We have to get out of here!" He whispered while running.

He ushered her through the many many halls the manor possesed, running without looking back, but just as they thought they had already lost them, Sebastián tripped with a tripwire, making a rope fly out of nowhere towards Sebastián's wounded leg, making him face fall to the ground.

"Ugh!" He moaned, trying to free his leg, but there was no avail.

The wooden panels that were on the other side of the room, suddenly opened, revealing something that could easily be described as an old crusher. The rope, started pulling him towards the crusher's sharpened blades, that were spinning at a high speed, probably to eviscerate more efficiently his body. Margarita grabbed his hand and tried to pull him away from it, but the rope seemed to be tougher than it had originally appeared.

They were running out of time, in matter of seconds there wouldn't be anything left from Sebastián, except his tattered clothes and his insides. Both her arm and her crotch area hurt like hell, but she wasn't going to let that man, whom at the moment was the only one who could protect her, die, even if he dragged her to her death.

"Dr. Hernández! Run or you'll die too!" He gasped, still trying to free his leg.

"I'm not going to leave you here! There has to be a way of deactivating this trap." She looked frantically at the walls of the hall, hoping to find some kind of switch. However, she froze when she saw two masked creatures armed with guns, coming towards them at great speed. Drops of cold sweat started to form on her forehead, and anxiously, she looked at the red light that glowed behind that crusher machine, hoping it would magically turn it of... wait, turn it off?

"Bingo!" She exclaimed, letting go of Sebastián's hand and pulling her pistol from her belt. She pointed at the red light, praying to have a good aim and avoid getting more splattered with blood and guts, this time her saviour's. Her arms trembled, and it was getting really hard to point at the red light.

The masked creatures where getting closer, though they didn't fire their guns not even once. 'Maybe they run out of bullets?' She wondered.

Magarita closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.

_*_BANG!*

The sound of glass shattering followed, and after that the machine turned off, the blades at mere centimeters of Sebastián's body. Calmer than before, he pulled the string from his leg and got up just in time to shoot at the monsters in their chests. Not giving them the chance to get up, he grabbed her by the arm and ran towards the door, not without muttering a small 'thank you' for saving him from what could have been a very painful death.

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	9. The Bodies

**Thanks for all the encouragement! It helps me to keep writing!**

**Sorry for my vocabulary and grammar mistakes, English is not my first language.**

**A/N: Actually I won't be able to update for a little while, I have projects, and finals in Spanish's universities are now. Sorry :(**

* * *

They ran through the halls, Sebastián's leg throbbed just as much as Margarita's forearm. But taking a break promised and even greater pain for the two of them, so they kept running. Margarita should have known the way, she should have been leading him through the halls instead Sebastián leading her, but now she knew that this wasn't the manor that terrorized and at the same time fascinated her when she was young.

In every corner they turned, they found a new disgusting surprise. Sometimes it was a man with his gut cut open, sometimes there were bodies burning, and sometimes it was a woman who dragged herself through the floor, armed with only a knife, hoping to reach them.

After several minutes they lungs started to burn, but that didn't stop them from running a bit more, that was until the sound of something beeping made Sebastián stop dead on his tracks and throw themselves to the ground.

"Wha-?" She started asking. But was silenced with a finger on her lips.

"Shhh." He told her before crawling towards a strange thing with a red light and connected to explosives that was glued to the wall. Sebastián started moving wires and gears while muttering under his breath about how that damned needlewouldn't go slower.

She paled when she realized that the only way to stop the bomb from exploding was to connect the cable just at the moment the needleentered a zone that was coloured in a deep blue, and that if Sebastián failed, the expansive way of the explosion would probably make them blow.

Sebastián was sweating because the effort and so was she but because the tension, they only had one chance, just a few seconds more and...

_* CLICK*_

Margarita opened her eyes, the bomb had deactivated, Sebastián had made it. Sadly, they didn't have much time to celebrate. Sebastián pulled both of them up and continued running, with her fast on his heels.

She almost crashed onto his back when he suddenly stopped. Giving him an inquisitive glance, he just shrugged his shoulders.

"It has to be here, there can't be any other place where we can find the hidden passage."

The door easily opened, and on the inside it just seemed like a ordinary guest room, only this one seemed to have been ridden of monsters, which was something which they should be grateful for.

As soon as they entered and make sure that the door was securely locked, Sebastián started pocking the walls and the furniture. After a while, he looked at her annoyed.

"What are you doing there? Are you expecting a written invitation? Come on! The door won't be find by itself." He commanded, signaling with his head for her to start searching with him.

She gladly agreed, and started looking for the secret door with him. During her search, she also took the chance to take a better look at the room.

She had never been there, at least not inside that room, but she was sure she had at least seen it while running through the halls with Rubén and Laura. It was a victorian like room, just like the others in the manor, its furnitures making it look even older than it was. Nobody had been in that room in ages, judging by the colsed smell and the thin lay of dust that covered every single centimeter in that room, on the ceilingseveral spiders had considered to make it their home, since the only things that could be seen were their webs. She cringed in disgust at the bad state of the room.

A fireplace situated in the other side of the room made her tilt her head curiously. Though it looked like an ordinary marble fireplace. Kneeling in front of it, she cringed her nose at the bad smell that came from the other end of the passageway, as if someone had left there a rotting corpse.

"Sebastián! I think i found it!" She whispered.

Sebastián peered his head out from the closet he was looking in, and approached her with a small smile on his face.

"Well done, doctor! Now I'm sure we'll be able to get the fuck out of here!"

Margarita bit her lip at his swearing. He had started so well with his thanking, it was a shame that he had to spoil it.

Peering closely, he kneeled in front of the stone passage, checking its lenght.

"It'd be better if I went first. You just follow me and watch my back." He told her starting to crawl into the passageway. As soon as he was fully inside, she followed soon regretting not having insisted to go in first. The cold, darkened and small space, were the perfect elements to create a claustrophobic feeling on her chest, It also didn't help that she wasn't able to see were they were going, since Sebastián's backside was broad enough to not let her see anything.

Her hands were starting to feel numb by the coldness of the wet stones, and more than once she felt some kind of bug sliding through her fingers.

Her prays seemed to be heard, though, because the journey only lasted a couple of minutes. Once she was out of that tunnel she gave a sigh of relief, but her joy was soon cut off.

"So that was where that disgusting smell was comming from."

Over the desk, alogn with several chemicals and papers containing graphical descriptions of the different parts of the human brain, stood a head, with the skull opened, leaving uncovered its brain. Margarita didn't dare to wonder if that human's head was real or not, but judging by its contorted expression and its wide eyes, it seemed that this poor man had suffered a lot. Also, the hair, though gray and dirty seemed quite real.

While she stood near the entrance of the tunnel, Sebastián approached the head calmly, as if it hadn't impressed him as much as it had impressed her. Looking through the notes and drawings, he found an old tape recorder hidden. Turning it on, they were met with a buzzing noise.

"_Subject number 12. Test 71B. Electrode Placement A-2."_

Margarita felt everything stop around her, even her own heart, who was too busy covering with fear, she felt her knees weaken and she fell to he ground. She would recognise that voice anywhere, it was from that man, the monster who had abducted and then raped her. If she had considered that what he had done to her was abominable, this was far way worse than that. The man continued talking.

"_Stimulation of amygdalae, seat of emotion and memory allocation; the fear center of the brain."_

A man whimpering could be heard from behind that voice. Pleading for him to not hurt him. A splattering sound told them that he had ignored his pleas.

"_Subject feels as I do. But this vessel is far too weak to withstand the psychological weight I myself bear daily."_

The recording stopped, and they stood there, looking at the head.

"Dr. Hernández, come here. I think I'm going to need your help witht this." Sebastián said while holding some kind of laser toward the brain of that man.

Margarita started walking towards them, but jumped back when the head starting emmiting pained sounds at the same time it moved it eyes and lips.

"There's no way I'm approaching that thing." She told him at the same time she grimaced.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but our dear friend Ruvik has left for us a few puzzles gory as fuck. The only way we have to escape is applying some kind of laser to the brain of that poor abomination, and hopefully if we success we will be a few steps from opening the door that will led us out of here. But if we fail because you let me do this even when you knew that I didn't have any idea about how to proceed because here there isn't some colorful guide that I can understand, I'm sure that Ruvik would take great pleasure in skinning both of us! Now come here and do your part!" He barked, taking a vice grip of her good forearm and leading her towards the desk.

Margarita scowled, but didn't say anything. Taking a close look to the books and notes, she easily understood where the last pin had to be put. Making a face when the head complained once the pin was stuck on its brain, she pulled away from the table just in time to see a torrent of blood running through cristalline pipes.

She didn't have any desire to stay in that room, so once the blood disappeared from their sight, she kneeled and crawled trough the tunnel towards the bedroom, with Sebastián close behind. She should have thought that anything was that easy.

The more they approached the room, the stronger a new disgusting smell got. It smelled just like when corpses that had been rotting for months arrived to the morgue and she had to put a mask to avoid fainting from the odor, she was so lost in her thoughts wondering from where would be comming that smell that wasn't there before, that she didn't noticed what was laying in front of the bed until she was at mere centimeters from them. She stopped, for the first time not knowing how to react. She could feel the fear and madness slowly trying to reach her brain, but she was too dumbfounded to brush them off. Her arms started to shake, and she had to sit down, if not she would have face fell to the ground.

Suddenly it was hard to breathe, she felt that her lungs where not getting the air they needed, she had to take great gulps of air, but even that wasn't enough. Sebastián stood by her side, also shocked. Wondering how that could have happened if they had locked the door. Taking notice of his companion he put a comforting hand on a shaking shoulder.

"Are you alright, Margarita?"

Soon, all the pressure and nerves that had been building inside Margarita's body, exploded in a blood curling scream mixed with a sob that startled the detective. Because that had gone too far, because she didn't knew how much she could endure, because in front of her lay the corpses of Ernesto and Beatriz Victoriano.

Before she was able to make a coherent sound, the two bodies were wrapped in a mix of blue and white light, and another ghostly figure joined them. She couldn't see much of his face, because most of his head was wrapped in bandages but she could deduce he was a young man. However, as painful as was seeing her friends' parents corpses in front of her, nothing had prepared her for what came next.

"_Oh father, if only you knew how satisfying that look on yout face is."_ The young man spoke. "_Did you actually think if you locked me away I would just cease to exist? Out of sight, out of mind? You did... You did, didn't you. Well you were never out of my mind. I hope you're proud of yourselves." _And then, the ghostly appearence vanished from the room.

Sebastián got up from the ground and continued towards the now unlocked door. Noticing that his companion wasn't following him, he turned to make a snarky remark, but refrained from doing so. Margarita still stoof seated on the ground, looking at the empty space where that ghost had previously been.

"Are you coming?" He asked. But she didn't respond, nothing idicated that she had even heard him. She just sat there, unmoving, frozen in place.

'Hmm... that really got into her.' He thought. Sebastián knew that whatever had happened was related to her somehow, heck he was a detective, he didn't get his job just by his good looks. However, that was her problem to share. He wouldn't press her into confessing, not after seeing how bad it had affected her.

After a couple of minutes, she got up and started walking towards the door, ignoring him. Somehow, it reminded him of Myra, when she received the news that their daughter had died. He closed his eyes at the painful memory, and shook his head to clear his thoughts, now wasn't the time to dig in the past. They had to get out of there.

The journey to the entrance was... how could he describe it? Weird. Margarita didn't talk, not even once, she looked almost like she was souless. And furthermore, no monster approached them, it was like every creature in that manor had disappeared. He couldn't help but find it suspicious.

At last, they arrived to the door. The three glass containers were full of the blood that that weird machine had pumped through the old pipes. Sebastián doubted he had ever been more happy to see blood. Just as he was about to open the doors, the temperature in the room dropped, and the few colours it had vanished into a cold blue. Sebastián was not a genius, but even him knew who was approaching him.

"Ruvik." He muttered. With Margarita's started gasp, his worst suspicions were confirmed. He had to hurry up before that freak caught them. With a few grinding sounds of the gears the doors finally opened and he rushed inside, looking back he saw that Margarita had not moved, but was instead looking intently at Ruvik who also was looking at her.

Margarita, on the other hand was a wrecked mess. She frankly didn't know what to feel, anger, pain, heartbreak, joy, an anxiety attack... She would recognise that eyes everywhere, those deep pools of cold grey. She was no dumb, she could easily get where the name 'Ruvik' had came from, but recognising him, _it_, as her long lost friend whom she had thought dead would also mean recognising him as the man who had abducted her and the man who had raped her. Since she didn't know how to feel, she opted for the cold numbness. Because feeling something, right now would finally destroy what had been left of her sanity, that small portion that still wanted to find excuses towards Rubén's behavior.

Ruvik extended a half burnt and half grey hand to touch her but stopped midway, turning it into an inviting gesture.

"Come with me." He told her, and though Sebastián didn't notice, she swore she could hear desperation on his voice. Years ago, she gladly would have gone with him without thinking twice, but now she was too emotionally tired to play to his mind games and just wanted to go home.

"No." She said.

Ruvik expression changed from pleading to one of deep hurt, and then to extreme rage. But she didn't get to see what he did next, because she was pulled to the other side of the door by Sebastián. However, she was able to catch his anguished scream before the doors closed.

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	10. The Maze

**Hi! Sorry it took so long but I had finals and projects and I failed two so I had to do them again. But now I'm back!**

**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes, English is not my first language.**

**Thanks for all the encouragement! It helps me to keep writing!**

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No, no no no no! Why?! Why she hadn't gone with him? She was supposed to go with him, to choose him first as she always did, but she had rejected him, she had rejected his love and devotion. And all because that Detective. Ruvik loathed him, he loathed him more than anything, more than even his own father whose religious faith had lead him towards his and his wife's destruction.

He couldn't wait to have him by the throath and slowly squeeze his life out of his body. But no matter how much traps he put on his way, he always managed to get out! And now he had Margarita, if he wasn't careful, he could lose her forever! And he wasn't willing to face that possibility. He had already lost Laura, if he lost Margarita, all his work and his efforts to return to life would turn useless. He would be completely empty, and mad.

Ruvik trashed the greenish contents of a test tube that had seen better days towards the face of one of his 'experiments' that stood tied to an old chair in rage. It howled in pain and tried to reach its face, but couldn't because his hands where trapped against the arms of the chair. A small smile appeared on Ruvik's face, even if Margarita's rejection still hurt as if someone had ripped his heart off his chest, there was still one thing that could lighten his mood a bit. And it was seeing his patients suffer.

With manical glee he watched how the acid burned the skin until some parts of its face showed part of the bone mixed with muscle. He grabbed a kitchen's knife from a nearby tray, not bothering to clean it first, and started tracing patterns round its skull. The creature groaned and struggled against the chains, but it was all in vain. Before he was able to sink the knife in the skull, he seemed to think of it better.

"Maybe I can help her to see, maybe I can show her how much I adore her." He turned his attention towards his patient. "I'm sorry, my dear friend, but we'll have to postpone our little gathering to another moment."

Ruvik looked at the crashed mirror in front of him, his mouth turned up into a cruel smirk.

"Now, let's see how my guests are doing."

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The door had closed many minutes ago, and Sebastián found himself again in the same place he had been when the Victoriano's corpses had appeared. Margarita sat on the floor, with her knees towards her chest and a lost look on her eyes. Sebastián didn't know enough about her to know how to console her. He was starting to get nervous, that hall was creepy as hell and god be damned if he was going to spend willingly any other minute trapped there. Just as he was about to speak, she talked.

"I knew him from my childhood, in case you're wondering." Somehow, her voice didn't seem right to him. Though she always spoke with a quiet voice, this time it seemed like void of emotion. She continued talking. "You could say we were childhood sweethearts, heh, it's funny because now I don't know what to think of him. Well, that was until the fire took us apart. I was banned from the house by the head of the Victorianos and during years I believed my two best friends dead. But I suppose that nobody stays dead these days." She chuckled at her own morbid joke.

Sebastián approached and put a conforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know how it feels to lose the ones you love, the fire took my daughter away from me, and my wife left me not so long after that. But unlike your case, mine I know for sure that they'll never come back." He spoke softly.

Sebastián wasn't used to this kind of vulnerability, to share such painful memories from his past with someone he barely knew. But he couldn't help to feel some kind of emphatic bond with her, maybe because she seemed like a nice person, maybe because she was the only one there apart of that psychotic walking corpse that had brought them to this hell of a world, he didn't know, all he knew was that it was fair to share it with her as she had shared her past with him.

She gave him a small smile.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, but thanks for sharing it with me." She brushed one tear that fell on her cheek. After a few seconds she stood up, facing the poorly illuminated hallway. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

They hadn't even two steps before the lights went off and the hallway was plunged into darkness. Before they had time to react a ghostly figure appeared at the end, teleporting closer to them, his face was serious and held a gloomy air.

"Rubén..." She mumbled. He towered over them like the creature of darkness he was. When he extended his arm towards them, Margarita had only a second to scream before te hallway disappeared along with him.

When she oppened her eyes, they were in a completely different place. A room, or better a study, one study where she had been many years ago with a boy and a poor rat. This time was the ghostly boy with the rat on his hands, for a second, Margarita was tempted to smile, that was the boy she knew and loved, even if what he did was even creepier than what she did for a living.

"_Slice clean... All the way... No cure for what I'm going to do to you... Peel the pristine skin... thoughts from the minds..." _The white image soon turned into tiny red dots, and slided away like a torrent of blood to another passage.

"Ruvik?" Sebastián asked confused.

They peered through the frame where the blood had been, there were stairs leading downwards, and the kid version of Rubén stood at the end, expecting them to go down. And they complied, but once they finally reached him, it disappeared and reappeared round the corner of the hallway. They continued following the blood as if it was the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, not entirely sure if it would lead them towards their salvation or towards their doom. They went upstairs, downstairs following the blood and the ghostly appearence, until they reached a door.

"Wait! If could be a trap." Her warning made Sebastián stop his attempts to open the door. By the thoughtful expression on his face he also had thought of that possibility, at the end, he opened it anyway. They found themselves in the same study, with the boy, but the blood seemed to envelop him like an hurricane. Margarita gasped in fright as the blood surrounded the boy she had known and loved, turning him into a monstruous blood figure.

"Run!" Sebastián grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the same door they had went before. They returned to the same study, with the same boy, only this time the door seemed to be on the front, not on the side of the room. Not willing to go back to that creature, Sebastián and Margarita ran towards it, only to have it moved away from them as the door stretched.

"What's happening now?" Margarita asked with her heart full of fear.

"Do I look like I know what crosses that psycho's mind?" Sebastián tried to sound brave, but even she could feel uncertainity in his voice. Just as she was about to take another step she was stopped by Sebastián's hand on her arm.

"Wait! Look up!"

Thousand of spikes decorated the ceiling and thin threads crossed the room just waiting for someone to touch them. It was a trap, and she had almost walked into it. Crawling, they crossed the room avoiding the threads and spikes that were getting closer towards them. Every step they took was even more cautious than he last, what if they stepped on the wrong tile? What if it didn't matter how much they crawled because the trap activated anyways? With every second that passed Margarita's fear grew with the thought that the next step they took could lead them towards their deaths.

When they made it she almost collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. She was tired, emotionally and physically, and she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. She doubted she could continue for much longer.

"Let's keep going." Sebastián pulled her out, but they both froze when they saw the mannequin blocking their path. The room started changing again, strectching towards no limit. When the changing stopped, there was several giant stone heads in the room, separated enough to create a small path, at the end of said path stood the mannequin, looking directly at them.

"This keeps getting weirder and weirder..." Sebastián muttered, while walking through the path. Margarita couldn't help but silently agree.

A huge tremor was heard surrounding them, before they had time to retreat a huge gate crashed at their back, and at their sides trapping them in some kind of maze. Margarita pulled the bars in hopes of moving the gate enough to escape.

"We are trapped." She mumbled in shock, at the same time a crusher, even more giant than the one they faced before raced towards them, tearing apart a few corpses that had been previously in the way.

"RUN!" She screamed at Sebastián while hurrying towards the nearest way for them to escape, only to have it blocked at mere inches from crossing it by another rusty gate. Ruvik wasn't going to be easy on them, of course he wasn't, why would he? As Sebastián had so smoothly described, Rubén was now a psychopath who took great pleasure in torturing his victims before murdering them, and he was probably resentful with her for leaving him at the mercy of his father and refusing to go with him before. He wouldn't let them escape so easily.

Turning towards the other way they made a run for it,with the crusher close on their heels. Luck seemed to be on their side, since this time there wasn't any gate falling over them and blocking their path.

And they continued like that, running through the passages of the maze as if their life depended of it, which, in fact, it did. Sometimes they went through the right place, sometimes they were blocked by a gate. But they kept running, even when they stumbled over the corpses or what was left of them.

Turning his head to look back, Sebastián's eyes widened when he saw that not only the crusher was chasing them, but also the blood monster from before. They needed to go faster, at this pace they would never be able to make it alive. Which was really difficult since that blood monster seemed to easily pass through the bars.

Sprinting they barely made it to another hall of stone heads, but before they had any time to recover their breaths, because the hall started to become tight, to the point if they didn't rush towards the exit, they would be crushed to their deaths.

Sebastián and Margarita's lungs ached and burned, and their hearts felt like they where going to explode. Never had they imagined they would be doing so much exercise; since Margarita worked in a morgue, she never thought she would face something like that. But here she was, in a nightmare world trying to escape from her friend with a detective she barely knew and whom she really hoped he wasn't a part of her imagination.

As they approached the exit, the room changed again and brought them back to the study from the beginning. Sebastián's face matched her own confusion.

"Are we here again?" She whispered. "was that just a dream?"

Sebastián just shook his head in response.

The room looked quieter than before, even it had lost all it's colours and light. But things here where never as they seemed to be. Maybe anywhere in the room was lurking a hideous monster waiting for the right time to attack them, or maybe it was a trap. Who knew what could happen to them as long as Ruvik had all the power.

Taking hesitant steps towards the only way of escape, Sebastián narrowed his eyes at the metal doors that stood at the end of the hall.

"Are you ready for what's next?" He asked. He knew they were tired, hurt and probably she was emotionally scarred; but they had to continue, that was the only way to get out. Find Kidman, Joseph, Dr. Jiménez and Leslie and find a way to escape the psycho's mind. Margarita didn't answer.

They both pushed the heavy doors until they opened, a blinding light dazzled them. The smell of sunflowers filled Margarita's nostrils at the same time all those memories she had tried so hard to forget came rushing through her mind.

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**A/N: I'm not really sure if there was a second crusher in this part (I think there wasn't) but I decided to add it anyway.**


	11. The Burning Barn

**Thanks for all the encouragement! It helps me to keep writing!**

**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes, English is not my first language.**

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_She hadn't been feeling well that week. The high fever made her spend all little time she had to be awake in bed, her head hurt as much as every bone in her body, her nose was congested and her eyes were teary all the time. She hated being sick, when she was sick she couldn't play with Rubén and Laura, she couldn't read, she couldn't eat properly without throwing up all the contents in her stomach. Being sick was horrible._

_Rubén and Laura hadn't been allowed to visit her, since their father banned them from doing so because he thought her sickness was some kind of God's punishment because her father had begun to practise modern medicine instead of a more traditional one that was approved by the cult who ruled the land with an iron fist. But that didn't bother her, frankly, she didn't want them to catch whatever she had, and though she would never admit it aloud she felt really embarrased at the thought of Rubén seeing her like that._

_Her Daddy took great care of her, making her feel better with cuddles and kisses; and everytime she asked about if he wasn't scared of becoming sick like her, he would smile and tell her he had a secret potion that would make him immune to any sickness. If only it had made him invincible against other things._

_Now she felt much better, running through the sunflower fields, with no special direction in mind, feeling the freedom that had been taken away from her a week ago. She was full of energy and health, and ready to play again. _

_The sound of masculine voices made her stop dead on her tracks, and hid among the sunflowers that where big enough to cover her small body. Those where the villagers from the town, what were they doing here? They had no use of the sunflower fields as they were property of the Victoriano. She probably was the only one that was allowed there, and as long as Rubén and Laura liked her it would continue like that._

"_Rich bastards, think they can buy up all our land"_

"_They need to be shown who really owns these parts"_

"_Stupid Victorianos. I hate them."_

_She froze when she saw the top of what seemed to be a burning torch, and her heart stopped when she saw pitchforks accompanying them. She didn't know what to do, should she stay hidden? Should she run until she reached home and tell her dad about what she had seen and heard? Taking a step back her body stepped on a small branch, and though it seemed quite a little thing, the crunching sound was enough to catch the attention of the villagers._

"_What was that?" One of them asked._

"_Maybe some stupid animal. Come on, let's keep going." The man with the torch said._

_Margarita held her breath and didn't dare to move until the footsteps drew away. She sat back on the ground, pulling her knees towards her chest. Those men had really scared her, but what scared her the most was when she smelt that something was being burned and when she heard a child's scream._

_She didn't think twice, she ran towards the source of the noise, the only things she could see were the sunflowers' stalks. She could easily get lost, if she hadn't already got lost. Her shoes and socks were getting covered in mud and leaves, she fell to her knees twice, her legs covered with small cuts and bruises. The more she run the stronger the smell of woodsmoke got._

_She was starting to see the source of the fire, a few steps more and she'd be able to escape from that sunflower prison. Exiting from the camp, she froze when she saw the Victoriano's barn being engulfed in flames._

"_Man, nobody told us there were going to be kids inside."_

_Her heart stopped beating as cold fear took hold of her body._

_They have burned the barn._

_With kids inside._

_Probably the Victoriano's kids._

_Rubén and Laura were inside. They were burning._

_She screamed in fright at the sudden realisation and the villagers turned sharply towards her, a mixture of fear and surprise on their faces. One of those villagers tried to grab her while the other four ran, she went in the opposite direction, hoping to lose herself among the sunflowers while the man gave chase to her. After a couple of minutes, the man decided she was not worth the effort, and ran away to reunite with his colleagues._

_She peered through the stalks and approached the burning barn. She didn't hear any noises, so she supposed that there wasn't anyone left. Margarita fell to her knees, and let the tears fall while the fire warmed her face._

"_Hgnggngnnnnn..."_

_She snapped her head up so fast she hurt her neck. What was that? She massaged her neck while getting up. She shook her head as new tears formed in her eyes, for a second she had thought... she had just thought... That somehow they were safe and sound. What a stupid thing to think._

"_Hgggghhnn... hhh... helll... heeeelllp..."_

_No matter how weak that voice had sounded, she had heard it. It was faint, at the verge of completely disappearing, but still strong enough to fight for avoiding humankind's greatest fear: facing death._

_Margarita ran towards the source of the noise. There, laying nearly unconscious in the cold ground was Rubén Victoriano. She managed to contain an horrified gasp when she saw his face. Almost all of it was reddened by the barn, just like several parts of his hands and legs. He seemed to be in great pain._

"_Rubén, please, please stay with me." She begged him, kneeling down with him and taking his hand. She kissed the burned side of his face, his eyes started to close._

"_Please help! Somebody help us! PLEASE!"_

Margarita blinked a few times only to realise she had been crying, again. Using her jumper's sleeve she brushed her tears, hoping Sebastián hadn't noticed. Luckily, he was reloading his gun. Looking to the front, she saw that they were really close to the barn were Laura and Rubén had been trapped.

They ran through the sunflowers, it was weird for her to be there again. They seemed so real, yet they didn't have any kind of smell and were rough to the touch, however they looked like they seemed to be real sunflowers.

"I suppose you've been here before." Sebastián told her quietly, while walking around the barn. She followed him.

"How do you know that?"

He pointed towards his eyes. "Your eyes are red and there are tear tracks on your cheeks. Never try to fool a detective."

While walking her hand caressed the wooden walls. It was cold and old, but it wasn't burned, it was just like it was before that accident. Seeing that there was nothing of interest around that building, they approached the frontal doors.

"_Laura, where are you?" _

The doors opened to reveal the ghostly figures of Rubén and Laura Victoriano. Margarita's heart skipped a beat. She knew where this was going. Ruvik was going to make her remember, he was going to reconstruct the events that took place that fateful day. A sudden burst of anger coursed through her, hadn't he any respect for his sister or their friendship? Was he going to make her suffer again all those horrible moments until she went mad and killed herself or begged him to kill her? After everything he had done to her why couldn't he leave her in peace?

"_I know you're in here. I can hear you breathing."_

The pale images continued playing, just like she supposed they had been before the fire started, but just as they approached them, they disappeared. Margarita held her breath, and suddenly started to feel really hot, as if she was burning, everything in the room seemed hot. Drops of sweat started to fall from her forehead, and in Sebastian's shirt's armpits and chest area started to form a sweat stain. And all of a sudden there was fire everywhere, consuming the wood and straws, trapping them inside the barn, just like Rubén and Laura had been, condemned to die in the flames.

Sebastián ran towards a lever and started pulling it, even when the steel og the lever was burning hot from the fire. His palms were turning red from the burning, but he didn't stop until a platform was pulled down.

"Come on, get on that platform!" He shouted at her.

They both got into the platform but after a few seconds they discovered it wouldn't move unless there was someone pulling the lever. Cursing under his breath, Sebastián tried to pull out his shotgun to shoot at the gears of the lever. He winced and cursed even louder when his burned hands made contact with the steely surface.

"I'll take care of this!" She said, aiming towards the gear with her small gun. Her arms trembled and the heat didn't allow her to concentrate really much but she narrowed her eyes and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit one end of the gear, but it was enough to activate it and made them go up.

On the second floor, they had to move even more carefully than before. The burned woodfloors were starting to weaken and a very strong step could make them break and fall to their hellish deaths. Almost tip toeing, they approached an opened window, their only way to escape. Sebastián got on all fours and looked at her expectantly.

"Use me as a stool. I'm taller than you so I'll have no problems to climb after you."

Margarita, stepped on him and climbed to the window, which was quite hard given the pain in her forearm, if she wasn't careful, the wound would reopen. She managed to sit on the frame of the window. However, just as Sebastián was about to climb after her, the same torrent of drops of blood pushed him back to the barn, but making her fall outside at the same time.

"Sebastián!"

Margarita screamed and covered her face, preparing herself for the impending impact, which never came. Instead she was met with something soft with two slim things but that felt like iron bars snaking around her middle back and the back of her knees. Something had caught her, or rather someone.

She opened her eyes and gasped softly. Brown eyes met steely grey had saved her from the fall. His eyes roamed through her body, looking for any kind of injure or pain; his jaw clenched when he saw the cut in her forearm but in a few seconds he made it disappear. The two of them stood looking at each other for a few more seconds, before Margarita remembered who was the responsible for them to be on that situation and her anger returned.

"Let. Me. GO!" She bellowed at him while hitting his face with her bare hands while angry tears ran down her cheeks.

Her sudden aggresivity was more than enough for him to drop her to the ground in surprise. He brought his hand to the cheek she had slapped. Even if he wasn't more than a strong illusion, her slaps hurted him more than any pain he had experienced. Ruvik kept staring at her with a hurtful expression while she cried her heart out, not bothering to look at him in return. He turned his head towards the left where the ghostly representations of a younger him and Margarita were reproducing one of his most cherised memories.

"_Rubén, please, please stay with me." _She said while kissing the burned part of his face, the one he despised the most.

His non-beating heart clenched on his chest, he was so besotted watching them that she didn't notice Margarita, brushing away her tears.

"Why did you tuned into this?" She turned her face towards the two children. Why couldn't things be the same way they were before? Why did Ruvik wanted to cause so much pain to everyone? She didn't noticed she had said those questions aloud.

Ruvik didn't answer her. He just looked at her with a hollow expression, though his eyes reflected many of the emotions he was feeling: rage, confusion, doubt, hurt, anxiety. For the first time in his life he seemed unable to deal with all that psychological charge, it was unbearable for him. So he did what he did best, he disappeared.

Margarita closed her eyes in pain, her heart was full of mixed feelings. She should hate him, since he had abducted, raped and tortured her; but on the other hand, she couldn't bring herself to completely hate him, he had saved her when he could have let her fall and crash against the ground and had taken care of her wound, worrying if she had more injures. He was cruel, a depraved psycopath that had caused her lots of pain; but at the same time, he still was that boy who brought her flowers, held her hand when she was scared and kissed her when she was sad. She didn't know what to think anymore.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump and crawl backwards.

"Don't be afraid, Doc. It's just me."

Margarita jumped from her seat and hugged Sebastián with all her might, not caring her clothes were getting dirty with the ash that covered him. Sebastián, hesitantly returned the hug, being surprised at that sudden amount of affection. After a few seconds Margarita stepped back, a bit embarrassed for showing too much affection for someone she had met a couple of hours ago.

"I-I'm sorry. I just thought you had been trapped there." She trailed trying to use a formal voice. He smirked at her.

"Ruvik is going to have to try harder to kill me." Sebastián stopped talking when he saw her shiver at Ruvik's name.

Margarita braced herself and looked around, they weren't in the sunflower fields or the barn anymore, but in another hall. Why had he teleported them there?

As they both looked in confusion at their surroundings they didn't notice the hooded figure that looked at them from the darkness, with his eyes set only in the woman.

"I'm going to stay with you. I'm not going anywhere. And I promise you that I'll win you back. I'll gain my redemption." He whispered, low enough for them to not hear him.

"I'll prove you I'm still the same boy you fell in love with."

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	12. The Research

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**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes, English is not my first language.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The hall extended in front of them. Given its poor illumination, you could barely know what was at the end of it, if there was any end. Just like this nightmare. Sebastián wondered when it would be over, hadn't he been punished enough? His daughter had died on a fire, his wife had left him and he had got suspended from work for a month because in hopes of making the pain go away, he had put a bottle of wine in his mouth.

Taking a closer look at his companion, he observed with great admiration that she was taking all of this a lot better than he had initially expected. And she had been through something worse than him, because at least he didn't have his Lily tormeting him, though sometimes he wished she was, just to see her again and hear her laugh, even if it was just for a few seconds.

But now wasn't the time to be pessimistic, if they had managed to survive to that point, then there was a minimal possibility for them to survive the entire journey through Ruvik's mind. Looking back, he saw there wasn't any chance for them of going back as that side of the hall also extended towards no end. The only way to get out was to continue fowards.

They hadn't taken even one step, when a voice, coming from nowhere spoke through the halls.

"_Beatriz, please. You must eat. You've got to keep your strenght up."_

A female voice joined the conversation.

"_My children... I want..."_

"_Beatriz, we have been through this..." _The male voice sounded tired, maybe a bit annoyed and irritated. Margarita bit her lip in rage, this man, this horrible man who had locked his own son in the basement just because his appearence and turned him into a revengeful monster. But who was really the monster?

"He's lying to her." She muttered. Sebastián just looked at her in confusion. "Ernesto, the father of Ruvik and Laura. He lied to his own wife and hid his son in the basement just because he considered his face to be revolting." Her voice was soft, but every fiber in her being was shaking with barely restrained anger. "He treated Ruvik like an animal, fueling his anger and pain, convincing him he was a monster and no human would be able to love him because how he looked."

"And how do you know that?" The two were know walking through the endless hall, with their backs tense and the hairs at their napes bristling, since they didn't know what could be following them, just waiting for the exact moment to jump at their backs.

"Rubén was always really concerned about his appearence, his probably saw the chance and took it. The funny thing is that he was kinda cute when we were children, and still is." She blushed and bit her lip in embarrassment. "I'm not saying I'm on his side, after everything he has done to me, you and the others; I highly doubt we'll still remain as friends when all of this ends."

Sebastián let out a long sigh. Now was the time to ask her about what had been on his head since he discovered Margarita's importance to Ruvik.

"I know that he was a good friend of yours and I hate to be the one to make this question, but why did he bring you here if he loved you so much?" Margarita shrugged her shoulders, a brief flash of pain crossing her eyes.

"I don't know. Maybe revenge? He's probably resentful with me for leaving him. But could you really blame me? I thought he was dead, even if there was a biref moment in which I believed he was still alive, and Ernesto Victoriano scared me enough to not want to be on his bad side. I suppose he considered that as a betrayal."

Sebastián ran a hand through his hair.

"I suppose you're as fucked as I am." He gave her a small smile which she returned.

They where in a small room now, some kind of study, maybe Ernesto's own private one. One she had never been before, since she couldn't remember seeing a room like that. Between two of the bookshelves you could see a small opening, another hidden passage leading to a secret room, a room which would lead them to be a step closer from freedom. Once they passed, the door closed behind them, leaving them trapped.

The new room morphed into another hallway, this time shorter and with a more decrepit state. At the end you could see some kind of pool ladder that went down. Not bothering to think if it was a trap or not, they climbed down. Margarita cringed when the spiderwebs that adorned the way down stuck to her hair and clothes. How much she despised bugs, they were disgusting, and she cut open corpses for a living! Furthermore, now she was surrounded of millions of walking and decomposed monsters, she was sure that spiders were the minor of her problems.

"_How many have you killed Rubén?" _

They both froze when they heard Dr. Jiménez talk.

"Rubén? Does he mean Ruvik?" Sebastián asked with an annoyed look on his face.

"_Numbers are irrelevant. They received as they themselves gave. And they served a higher purpose; they furthered my research."_

Margarita's eyes filled with tears again, she had known previously he was a killer. But knowing he had killed so many people... and she had loved him when they were younger? Well, 'loved' may not be the appropiate word, since she still seemed to harbor some kind of feeling towards him, somehow she still hoped he would let them all free and magically he would return to be the same. But there was also a small pressure on her head that reminded her of that pain she still felt between her legs. There were two sides of her fighting in her mind: the one who still wanted to find a reasonable explanation for all of this madness, who was becoming weaker by the second; and the one who just wanted to forget everything about this and never hear of the Victorianos again. That last part was becoming stronger.

"_This was no mere research... The things the papers say were done to those people... Those traps..."_

They entered a room full of engines, the ghostly versions of Ruvik and Dr. Jiménez where in the middle of the room, representing another memory from Ruvik's past. No matter how much she tried, Margarita couldn't understand why would he need to kill so much people for a simple research.

"_These vermin? These microbes? They're mine to do with as I please. But you are correct, this was no 'mere research'. I am close to perfection."_

"_This is abhorrent."_

"_This is my will."_ Ruvik's face seemed to be covered by some kind of bandages, and even if the living images in front them where as transparent as glass, you could easily see the mad gleam that his eyes reflected.

Just as they were about to continue, Sebastián fell to his knees, hissing in pain. Clutching his leg he turned and saw that the wound on his leg was a bit infeccted, pressing his lower back leg muscle a bit of greenish yellow liquid emmanated from the wound.

"Oh shit." He clenched his teeth.

"My goodness, when was the last time you cleaned that?" Margarita made a face in disgust at the liquid.

"Oh, let me remember, it was between the cricket match and the picnic; do you think I've had enough time to clean a wound?. I couldn't relax even when I was in a closed room that hadn't any monsters inside!"

Margarita's face suddenly paled and then turned a faint tone of greenish yellow, almost like the pus of the cut, her stomatch grumbled and churned, bile rising to her doubted she could keep it inside, so she throwed up the very few contents of her empty stomatch at Sebastián's feet.

"You ok?" Sebastián asked trying to look everywhere but her pile of vomit, however the smell was really strong.

She grimaced at the bad taste in her mouth and clutched her stomach, though throwing up had relieved her for a few seconds, her now empty belly was demanding to be filled, she was so hungry it hurt. But there wasn't time for eating, moreover, what could they eat? A human corpse? A rotten piece of metal?

"I'm okay, just a sudden nausea." She lied thorugh her teeth. Now the priority was heal Sebastián's wounded leg.

Said man was now pulling a syringe filled with a green liquid from the pocket of his trousers and was aiming to his leg.

"What are you doing?" Alarmed, she tried to pry that syringe away from him.

"Do not worry so much, doc. I'll help me heal."

"But do you know what it contains?" No response, obviously not.

Margarita teared off a piece of her blouse and broke the syringe in two, verting its contents into the piece of cloth. Sebastián's eyes widened.

"But what are you doing, you batty!? That was the only one I had.!"

Margarita just ignored him and pulled the piece of cloth to her nose, her nose wrinkled in confusion. It smelled like some kind of antiseptic, but mixed with something more. Had been Sebastián injecting this thing directly to his bloodstream all the time he felt weak? Maybe he needed her more than she needed him.

"Hold still, this might hurt a lot."

Sebastián grabbed a hold of the nearest engine to him and closed his eyes. When the wet cloth fell on his leg, his eyes snapped open and from his mouth escaped all kind of curses, some of them which she had never heard of. Ignoring all the colorful comments about ''the devil's vagina'' and many others more, she tied the cloth around his leg with a strong knot, making sure the antiseptic stayed in contact all time with the wound.

"Where did you find it?"

He shrugged.

"I just keep finding them randomly everywhere." Her eyes widened in horror.

Sebastián tried to get up, avoiding to step on the vomit, an flinched when he put too much pressure on his bandaged leg. This was going to be ten times harder with a limp.

* * *

Dr. Marcelo Jiménez searched through his notes frantically. What was Ruvik playing at? This didn't have any sense! Why would he bring someone he loved to his survival game? He knew that woman was important to him, even when he had never spoke a single word about her while they worked together in the STEM, he had observed them as children, observed how many feelings crossed his eyes when he was with her. He knew the passion that child's heart held for his friend.

After having known him for many years, he knew Ruvik didn't do anything without having cautiously planned it first. So what where his motives? Turn her into another part of the STEM so they could be forever united? No, that didn't make any sense, where would Leslie fit in that plan?

He could easily hear, hurried footsteps approaching him, he had to fled before those things caught him. He looked towards his patient, Leslie. Who sat whimpering on a corner, clutching his head and rocking his body back and forth. If only he knew how important he was for the organization...

A gunshot make him turn harshly, knocking over a glass bottle to the ground, which shattered into pieces. Looking closer, he discovered among the pieces a small paper with something written of it. Being careful of not cutting himself with the sharp glass he grabbed the paper.

_We were trinity and we will be again._

_Man and women._

_Brother and sister._

_Husband and wife._

_R._

"What is this?" He wondered, though he perfectly knew who had written it.

"This means we'll be together again."

Marcelo shivered when he heard the voice at his back. He turned around again, fearing to find Ruvik behind him. But he wasn't. There just stood Leslie, with an expression of pure hate on his young face. A expression that he had seen so many times reflected on... Ruvik's.

"L-Leslie?" He took a step back, bumping in the desk in which he had previously been looking for his notes. Leslie followed him.

"It's not your time to die. Not yet. But if you interfere in my plans I'll easily throw you out of the equation." Leslie's voice didn't sound right, it sounded like a mixture of his normal voice, mixed with Ruvik's own smooth voice.

"Surprised? Of course not, you're a smart man. But not as smart as me." Leslie-Ruvik's voice turned mocking, but later returned to his previous seriousness. "He is me, and I am him. We are one. And we'll be free."

When his speech ended, Leslie's eyes rolled back to his head and fainted, leaving a scared and anxious doctor behind.

* * *

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	13. The Introduction

**Hello again! I returned. Thank yo so much for all your support, really. And forgive me for my mistakes in grammar and vocabulary. Probably when I finish I'll revise all the chapters and try to correct them, now I am too lazy. Enjoy the chapter!**

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_They were in the church, again. How much he hated that church where prudish looking women and stoic men went to pray for salvation to a God that either didn't exist or wasn't listening to them. At his four and half years of age, Rubén needed constant estimulation, and hearing a creepy looking man bellowing about the sins, the purity of the angels, and the burning flames of hell wasn't giving him any fun. Being in a cult sucked._

_The only good thing that going to church have was that he was with Laura, and at least she tried to make their stance more entertaing. Like whispering something nasty about the priest or the main representatives of the cult, that could easily get themselves into trouble if they parents or anyone as fanatic as them caught so much as a whiff of them._

_And between small laughs, they always managed to survive the ceremony._

_At the end of the mass, just like every Sunday, their parents stayed a bit longer, greeting their 'brothers and sisters'. Rubén never liked to stay more than necessary at the church, but his father was a prominent member of the cult, so staying there with the other 'high classed' members was something inevitable._

_Sometimes, the adults put all their children together, so they could be entertained while they discussed 'important' things, though Rubén had always considered them trivial matters. Normally, he and Laura weren't interested in playing with the other children, they were simple, boring, too scared of their God to be a bit naughty and have fun. They were just like an herd of sheep. So dull, and predictable._

_However, this time, there was a new addition. A girl, maybe a year younger than him, was sitting in a corner, watching with cautious eyes, how the other children played tag, though she didn't seem really interested in joining them. Actually, he had seen her a couple of times, but he had never had the chance (or the courage) to talk to her. She was pretty with her long brown hair with the bangs pulled back with a white lace and her big brown eyes. She not as pretty as Laura; for him Laura was the prettiest girl in the entire world, but Laura's prettiness didn't make him feel like he had swallowed a thousand of butterflies. It was a really weird feeling, on one hand it was unpleasant to have, but on the other hand, he was feeling like the happiest boy in the entire town. He was so besotted watching her, that he didn't notice Laura smirking at his side._

"_She's really pretty. Do you want to talk to her?" Rubén, snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her confused._

"_Uhhh..."_

_Laura bit her lip in amusement. This was going to be really funny, since he seemed to not know what he was exactly feeling and looked pretty confused about it. It was so cute, his first time in love and he wasn't even noticing it. Well, let's make him notice, she thought._

"_Come here, let's introduce ourselves." She caught his arm and dragged him where the girl was sitting. Said girl, when he saw them approach, instantly tensed and ducked her head down. But Laura was having none of it, she was going to match her brother with her._

"_Hi! I'm Laura, and this is my brother Rubén. We saw you sitting here all by yourself and you seemed lonely so we decided to approach you." She said giving her a sweet smile. The girl's confidence seemed to grow a little bit, while Rubén's crashed down. His face was red and sweaty, he looked like he was going to have a panic attack. Laura actually felt bad for having to put him into that situation, but if she didn't do anything, he would never muster enough courage to talk to her._

"_I'm Margarita." Her voice sounded small and mousy, it looked like it was hardly used._

"_Margarita, would you like to go outside and play with us?"_

_Rubén's entire body tensed, they had been rejected before but somehow this girl's decision made him feel more nervous than the others, which he had barely cared. A few seconds passed and he felt himself growing more anxious by the second._

"_A-alright." She said giving them a small smile. Rubén found himself smiling her back, while Laura secretly smiled to herslef. She was going to like this girl._

Ruvik fell to his knees clutching his head, an agonizing pain tearing through his mind. Feeling as if every limb was being torn of his body again, he let out an ear-piercing howl. Everytime a memory came rushing back to him with that force, he was left in a state of impotence and pain. Remembering was always really painful, especially when he had to revisit the happy moments of the childhood that was taken away from him.

Between ragged breaths, he forcefully reminded himself that soon he would have all of that. The three of them would be reunited again. Trying to recompose himself, he sank a knife on the opened skull of a new patient in the zone of the brain reserved for the pain, when her cries of pain reached his ears, he felt a thousand times better, only to be reminded of his main problem.

He would have to convince Margarita that he was doing all of this madness for her, for _them._ However, wasn't that what she wanted? The three of them united again and free from this prison of pain and shame? Somehow everything he did seemed abhorrent in her eyes, she saw him as a cold hearted murderer, when she should know that his heart was, metaphorically speaking, warm and beating for her. He sighed in despair, losing her was like losing one of the most important parts of his heart, though he was a ghost, just a brain controlling the STEM, he was able to feel the great pain that losing his love entailed. How much he longed to explain his actions to her, to feel the comforting warmth of her hand against his now normal cheek, to feel her steady heartbeat when he embraced her. His eyes darkened with rage at the possibility of not having that. No! Of course he was going to have it! He deserved it after everything he had been put through.

"She said she would love me no matter what." He muttered to himself over and over, clinging on the only shred of hope and sanity he had to return to his research. He had to get everything ready, for them when they reached him. Because he knew they were going to reach him. That 'Seb' was a hard bone, and wouldn't stop at nothing to achieve his goals; well, so did he. But Margarita wasn't as strong as they, and her natural willpower was clouded by a great amount of fear and emotional scars. If something 'unexpected' happened to the detective, she would be left unprotected and in a state of panic. If that happened, he would go and fetch her himself, instead of having that blasted detective and probably 'womanizer' bring her to him.

However, the fact that he had Margarita, didn't mean that he was going to go easy on him. He may go easy on her, but he will have to work harder if he want to survive. And if he manages to reach him, well, he will have to kill him.

Ruvik smirked. It had been really long since he had had a good fun. And these new subjects were going to be really interesting to destroy. Because no one got on his way, never.

* * *

Where were they now? Judging by the state of the room, they were in some kind of underground secret base. In front of them was a metallic double doors with a pull at its side. But it was useless, he had tried, and failed. It seemed that the lever was connected to another hidden mechanism that needed to be activated, probably solving a pointless puzzle that would require them to go to another room, very far away from where they were now. 'Oh, this is going to be marvelous' He thought bitterly.

While Sebastián was feeling annoyed, Margarita wasn't feeling any better. A sudden fatigue had come over her, making her feel the sudden urge to sit down and rest a little bit. She could barely keep her eyes open. Also, her stomach still hurted from hunger. Sebastián put a comforting hand

on her shoulder. It was normal she was tired, since she hadn't had to endure the hard training sessions of the Academy.

"Rest here. I'll search for the puzzle."

Margarita's eyes snapped wide open and grabbed Sebastián's arm.

"No. I'll go with you."

Sebastián let out a long suffering sigh.

"Listen. You are not feeling well, you'll help me more if you stay here and rest."

She didn't have to say anything for him to know what she feared, the reason why her doe brown eyes where pleading with him.

"You know as well as I do that Ruvik won't lay a finger on you."

For an unknown reason, her grip on his arm tightened and her eyes teared up. He knew he should ask her about it, to let her lash out all the feelings huddled inside her. But he feared that it could break her in the process. So he didn't say anything, he just handed her a gun and a grenade.

Looking at the door, he loaded his shotgun. It was time to kill those motherfuckers.

* * *

_The vines were there, trapping her, pinning her to the bed. Leaving her at someone's mercy. She tried to scream for help but nobody came. A vine covered her mouth, piercing her skin with the sharp thorns, she could taste her own blood in her mouth. Tears of despair rolled down her cheeks while she struggled to get free, only causing more damage to her wrists and ankels. The blood was staining the pristine sheets of the bed._

_A door opened wide, and Margarita's muffled cries turned into sobs. Steady footsteps approached her. Margarita's eyes widened and struggled against her holds harder. Rubén, not Ruvik, the Rubén she had known and loved stood by her side, observing her with an impassive face. Margarita tried to plead with him, but she couldn't form the words in her mouth._

"_I promise I won't be too harsh my love."_

_His appearence changed. His pale skin turned grey and parts of it reddened; his clothes were burnt, leaving him with only his pants and part of his shirt, his hair fell charred to the ground and his height aumented, leaving him towering over her motionless body. His words repeated over and over in her head._

"_I promise I won't be too harsh, my love."_

"_I won't be too harsh, my love."_

"_My love."_

"_My love."_

"_Please forgive me."_

An alarm jolted her awake. A green light was flashing over the lever, getting up, she discovered with great shame and fear that she had unwittingly fallen asleep while she was supposed to be alert. Looking at her surroundings she saw with great disappointment that Sebastián hadn't returned yet. Well, this would save her of the embarrasing moment if he had caught her sleeping.

The alarm stopped and she let out a breath of relief. But that relief didn't last, because Sebastián came running from under a crusher with a panicked look on his face.

"Come on! Let's get out of here." He grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the lever just in time for a huge humanoid monster to come crushing through a door. Margarita held closer the gun in her hands, ready to fight it, even if she didn't have any idea of what to do.

With great effort, Sebastián managed to pull the lever and get them inside before the doors closed. They both cringed when the creature smashed his head against the metallic doors, accompained by a loud thud, which made her believe that the thing had broken its head when it crashed against the door and now lay dead in the groundfloor, in a mess of blood and brain matter.

"_RAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWRRHHH!"_

They both fell to the ground clutching their heads at the roar that send pulsating waves towards them which were followed by the earthquakering thud that made several pieces and dust from the ceiling to fall next to their bodies. Sebastián looked at the source of the sudden pain and his blood froze in his veins. After reaching to his back, for something big enough to attack him, he quickly loaded the gun he had baptized as his 'Agony Crossbow' with all the exlosive bows he could create with the little pieces he had and in the few seconds they had before the giant monster that stood at the end of the hall launched towards them.

Now matter how ready was that thing to pounce at them, that moment never came. In a flash of light, the monster had vanished and they found themselves in a completely different place. Sebastián narrowed his eyes, that had been far too easy.

"It's strange that we randomly change of place. How can we know we are not going in circles?" Margarita wondered if this was a trick of Ruvik to distract them and keep them away longer than they needed to.

"No. Some part of him want us to find him. He's changing places to confuse us and drive us mad, but we are following a straight line with only one destination." Sebastián had dealed with criminals and psychopaths in the past, and despite they always tried to hide well for him, he knew that deep in their hearts, they wanted to be found, they wanted to be catched so people knew it had been them. They craved the attention. And Ruvik was willing to go to any lenght to get Margarita's.

"How can you be so sure?" Margarita shook her brown jumper to whipe the dust that covered it.

"Hmph. It's just a theory, but I'm willing to say that he wants me to escort you to him."

"But why doesn't he come and fetch me himself?"

"You're right, why?" Sebastián frowned in confusion.

No matter how much they thought about it, there wasn't any response for that question. But there was one thing that was really possible, the fact that Ruvik may have been leading them in circles to distract them from stopping him. Because as soon as they rounded the corner they found themselves in a hospital.

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**A/N: Laura shipper :p**


	14. Laura

**New chapter! Enjoy it! Thanks for all the support and sorry for my mistakes!**

**This chapter is dedicated to my dear friend Markus (he knows why ehehe...) Enjoy it baby!**

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This was madness, jumping fom one scenario to another. Though it terrified Margarita, it also amazed her; how a single mind could control where, when and with whom they stayed, if he wanted them to stay together. The scientifical part of her brain wondered how such an horrifying goal could have been accomplished. Maybe they were connected through their minds, with a single one that was the 'Alpha' who set the rules of the game. But also, she could be still drugged and in a hospital bed, and this was just an horrible and really real nightmare induced by painkillers.

The hospital looked really ruined, well, if you could call it a hospital, because there were still parts that reminded her of those old fashioned supervillians lairs from those spies movies that Seraphina loved so much. Thinking of her friend brought a pang of guilt to her chest. Would she be looking for her? The poor woman would probably be too stressed with her and the wedding she had so meticulously planned.

She really missed having someone to talk to. It wasn't that Sebastian wasn't much of a talker, which he was; but in a place like this you never know who is hearing and when is going to come for you. So the main option was remaining in silence, and listening to any kind of threat.

Like the one that was currently standing among a sea of wheelchairs and beds. Sebastián put a finger to his lips and signaled with his head towards the creature she had decided calling 'Haunter'. Pulling a knife out of his pocket, where did he keep all those toys she would never know, he crawled towards him. Another pulsation surged through the halls, pulling then to the ground at the same time the wheelchairs, beds and Haunted included were sent to the ceiling, leaving them there glued. Just like some kind of magnetic force.

"Well, that's new."

After everything they had been put through, seeing Ruvik defy the laws of physics and gravity, was not a new release. However they wondered if this sudden advantage wasn't a preparation of what was about to come.

The more they walked the creepier the hospital got, to the point of resembling a set from the Saw movies. Margarita walked a tad closer to Sebastian, just in case. She had a bad feeling about this place, here was something bad, very bad.

The hall was dark, the only light coming from the end and the ceiling, where a huge fan projected its shadow over the floor. The place was cold, she noticed while rubbing her numb fingers, and deadly silent, excepting a strangled breathing came from ahead. It sounded like it was coming from a woman who was suffering of suffocation.

A huge monster like spider appeared at the end startling them, but it soon lost its initial interest and continued crawling through the wire fences that at the same time acted as a hoistway. The long black hair that covered its entire face caught Margarita's attention. Ignoring Sebastian's whispered warnings to stay with him, she approached the fence, almost touching it.

The creature approached her breathing heavily and cocked her head curiously, leaving her face uncovered from the messy black hair.

Margarita felt a sudden pressure in her chest, her throat closed and she stopped breathing as tears ran down her cheeks. Her face reddened with rage and she clutched the fence with her hands so hard her knuckles turned white. When she was able to breath again it came in harsh breaths and sobs.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!NOOOOO!" She screamed while crying her heart out. Her sobs could be heard through all the place, mixed with the harsh breathing. She felt to her knees, the pistol falling from her belt while the creature observed her in silence.

Startled by the noise she looked at it. And suddenly it became a way to reach salvation. They probably wouldn't make it to the end, eventhough Sebastian was well prepared, Margarita greatly doubted they could fight and hoard of monsters by themselves. She was useless in the combat field and Sebastian would have to be constantly worrying about her while focusing on the battle at the same time.

She could end this now, this time Ruvik wasn't here spying her, and if he was, if she was quicker than him she could make it. She could try it again, and maybe succeed. Just a bullet to the brain and everything will be over, everything. She had already seen so much suffering, she doubted she could endure it anymore.

"Everything could end. No more nightmares. No more suffering." She whispered, her voice desperate.

She wast so lost in her grief that she failed to see her skin turning a deadly white, so white you could see the blue and purplish veins. Slowly, her skin was beggining to rip open showing parts of her flesh; her eyes also changed from a chocolate brown to a glassy grey. A few more seconds and she would become one of them.

"Margarita!"

Sebastian pulled her back from the fence and into a hug. Taking advantage of her distraction, he took her away from there towards the lever, but was stopped by Margarita's fingernails digging painfully enough to draw blood into his arms. Sebastian refrained himself from pushing her back against the bars, at least, her appearence had reverted back to normal.

"How could he do this to her memory?" She tried to sound angry, she really did. But now the only thing she was was confused and hurt. Why? Ruben had been morbid as a kid, but nothing dangerous, just a few experiments for 'the sake of science'. He had been sweet, shy, protective and tender, at least with her and Laura. Had she only seen what she wanted to see? Maybe he had never been the boy she had fallen in love with but it was just the image she had created of him? No. She knew he would never lie to his loved ones, the two of them. He would never show a fake side of himself to her. But people didn't turned into this overnight. Something must have happened to him in the years she had thought him dead, something really bad. But that was no excuse for this.

"I think it would be better if we got out of here." She mumbled with her head lowered.

Though it still hurt looking at the 'Fake Laura' she felt a little better knowing that at least this creature wouldn't cause any harm to the real one, who was resting in peace. Realising that she was still digging her nails to his arms, she released him. But she didn't offer any apology.

"What a grip." He muttered rubbing his arms absently.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Sebastian finally pulled the lever that allowed them to get to the other side. As they were walking, Margarita couldn't avoid noticing that it was getting hotter in the room, as if they were close to a fire. She didn't know how right she was.

* * *

She waited patiently for her master's orders. Her master, the one who reminded her of something she couldn't remember but for whom she would do anything. Just an order and she'll do it.

"_Kill the man. Leave the woman alone."_ Ah, there it was.

For an unknown reason, she didn't want to harm the woman. The woman was friend. The woman was safe. The woman was close. The woman was Ruvik's.

But the man wouldn't have that luck.

* * *

_Later in the tunnels..._

Everything burned, his shoes bothered him and his clothes were clinging like a second skin, definying his toned body, sculpted thanks to the years of training in the police academy. It was almost suffocating. His hair stuck to his head and more than once he had to wipe the sweat from his forehead. If he hadn't the gun strapped to his back, he would take his clothes off and probably continue shirtless. Companion or not his clothes and body needed to transpire.

As Sebastian could see, Margarita was no better than him. She had pulled of her brown jumper and rolled up the sleeves of her blouse. The bad part was that it had also clinged to her body and now he could clearly see the line of breasts and bra, and if the temperature raised a degree more he would have to see more. Not that he was going to complain, but he would prefer to remain faithful to Myra.

He shook his head, now wasn't the time, not really. That four armed monster had managed to follow them and now was chasing them to the end of that hell. If he had learned something from their last encounter was that fire and that monster didn't mix well, they were practically antonyms. And there was so much fire here, _so much fire,_ but how could he use it correctly without burning themselves alive? The only things they could do was run and break all the valvles and pray for that thing to rot in the depths of hell. Actually, better not say it aloud; at least he had to show a minnimun of respect for Margarita and her close friendship with the dead girl.

_BOOOM!_

A vine exploded sendind them to the ground and trapping them in the room. The monster teleported , getting even closer to them. Sebastián looked in desperation around the room, there had to be something that stopped the fire from going through the pipes, but what? The answer lay just over his head, where the main valve that controlled all the pipes stood. The problem was that 'Laura' was also there, so aiming for it was going to be a thousand times harder.

"I need to shoot at that valve!" He shouted over the deafening noise of the flames and ovens. 'Laura' was now in front of them, ready to strike with one of her huge clawed hands. By the time he would direct his attention to shoot at the valvle they would be already cut into tiny little pieces! He needed something to distract her, but what? The answer came almost immediately.

"Get us out of here, I'll distract her!" Margarita commanded, throwing herself at 'Laura', who shook trying to take her off her body. Margarita actually had to take a hold of her hair to not fall down from her back..

With his heart on his throat, he aimed towards the valve on the ceiling. The heat was becoming unbearable.

"Holy fuck, it's too hot in here! I can barely concentrate!."

"Just shoot at it! No matter how much tries you need! Just shoot!" She yelled back.

He shot once, but it didn't even reach the mark. The second time it came closer, but not enough to break it. It was the third which actually did the trick. With a clear shot, he hit the mark. The distraction because of the noise it made was great enough for Margarita to jump out from Laura's back and catch his hand.

They both rushed to the elevator doors, as the room behind them exploded and was engulfed in flames. Margarita could hear the agony screams coming from the Fake Laura, every cry of pain hurt more than last, though she had to forcefully remind herself that she was not the real one. The real one was several meters underground.

Once both were safe in the elevator, they allowed themselves to release the breath they had been holding while their bodies thanked the sudden drop in the temperature.

"Well that was clo-" A hand suddenly grabbed Sebastian's neck, slamming him against the bars of the doors. It seemed that they hadn't finished with Laura as they had initially thought.

"Release him!" She launched herself towards the giantic clawed hand that was squeezing the detective's neck to the point of crushing it. She clawed at it, hoping her much shorter nails could do some damage, but she only managed to give her a few scratches, nothing more. Sebastian's time was running out.

"Mar... the... but... tons..." His face was starting to turn purple. Sebastian bet that if that bitch squeezed a bit more, his head would probably explode. He could feel his own eyes, starting to get out of his sockets. A few seconds more and he'll be dead. However, that moment never came. Because the elevator started moving down, but he didn't notice until the doors chopped down the arms that had caught him. Both him and the arms, fell down to the floor; luckily for him it was just the arms the ones who fell lifeless.

Rubbing his sore throat, he looked at his companion to thank her for her quick action.

"Margarita-" The words died on his throat when he saw that his ally wasn't moving. Instead she seemed to have been frozen in the spot.

"Margarita? What the fuck?" He waved a hand over her face, but she didn't move. She didn't even blink nor was she breathing. And that scared him, thinking she had been put into somekind of catatonic state. But didn't catatonics breathe? He wasn't sure, he was not a doctor.

The elevator came to a rough halt, making him lose his balance and grab his partner for support. Turning around, he saw that they had stopped in the middle of nowhere, and the doors wouldn't open. He tried to pry them open, but they seemed to be jammed. Sebastián started feeling claustrophobic.

At the other side of the door, a lonley hooded figure appeared. Sebastian swallowed hard and reached for his shotgun for protection. Ruvik was there and he didn't look pleased at all.

'Oh, fuck.' He thought.

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	15. The Patient

**Another chapter here! Sorry for my mistakes! Enjoy it!**

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Ruvik looked at him with disdain. Sebastian took a step fowards to put himself between the psychotic murderer and Margarita, after all she could't defend herself now. With his eyes full of rage, Ruvik started walking towards them, with every step he took the murdeous glare on his eyes grew in intensity. Man, he looked pissed, really pissed. At least he could count on the metal door to block his path.

Ruvik didn't bother to stop walking, with a simple narrowing of his eyes, the metal door that previously had been impossible to open for Sebastian tore from its hinges and smashed against the nearest wall, clearing his way to him. Sebastian actually had to take a step back, uncertain.

'Holy fuck, if he can do that to a metallic door using only his mind I don't dare to imagine what he could do to my body.' For a few seconds, he considered shooting him in the face, but after remembering what had happened to those poor policemen that had tried to kill him with bullets, shooting became out of the question.

Ruvik smiled inwardly at having provoked such a fearful reaction from the brave detective. He needed to know that he didn't fool around, he wasn't that stupid. Every single detail was meticulously planned and when he set his eyes on something, he didn't stop until he got it on his hands.

"Who do you think you are? I know who you are, "Seb". I know what you crave, what you fear... and you know what _I _crave." He tenderly caressed Margarita's cheek with the back of his hand and a soft look on his eyes, which hardened again when it returned towards him. "Will you be able to live with yourself knowing what I'm gonna make you do? Poor little Joseph couldn't... Too bad they dragged you into this. But either way, you're mine to do with as I please." Feeling satisfied with his speech, he took one last longing look to Margarita, and then he vanished, feeling really pleased with himself.

The elevator magically started working again, but Sebastian was still too concerned to notice. What had happened to Joseph? Had he finally given in? His entire body shook at the thought of losing his friend after everything they had been through. He had to find him and Kidman as soon as possible or this place would be their grave.

"Sebastian? Are you ok?" A hand on his shoulder made him jump and turn around just to find Margarita staring concerned at him.

"When did you defreeze?" Margarita raised her eyebrows at him in confusion.

"Me? It was you the one who suddenly stopped moving. I thought something really wrong had happened to you."

Sebastian looked at her even more confused than she was. So what had really happened? Had they been pulled into different realities where one was moving but the other one was frozen without moving them from the elevator? Whoah, better stop there, he was getting a headache.

"I don't really know what happened back there. But let's forget about it, ok? Ruvik was probably trying to mess up with our minds." He said as the elevator stopped in a floor.

Less to say that of all places they could have been sent, this was the last they expected to be. Their faces changed to surprised to angry, to then resigned. They were back to the Victoriano's manor. After a really long sigh and several breaths, Sebastian became the first and only one to express the sudden rage they both felt inside.

"Motherfucker! Here again!? Fuck this place!" Sebastian screamed kicking with his shotgun a vase to the ground and shooting another at the other side of the entrance. He leaned his head on the cold dirty wall, feeling suddenly really deflated. "All this bullshit for nothing."

How much Margarita would have loved joining him in tearing the entire house down, but she was really tired to grab her small gun and shoot at random things. But if Sebastian continued with that path, he could risk angering Ruvik even more, he needed to cool down a bit before things got worse. Maybe some conversation would calm the athmosphere.

"Sebastian, why are you here?"

"What?" He mumbled tiredly.

"You asked me before why Ruvik brought me here if he loved me so much. But what about you? How did you end up here? I greatly doubt you knew Ruvik from before, so what brought you here?" Margarita noticed that even she knew some things about him, that didn't explain how he had ended up in this situation. Maybe if he talked about what he knew, it would help her to understand why she was here.

"I came here with my partners, Joseph and Kidman. We had been called from another case to check on Beacon, it seemed there had been a case of ''multiple murders'' and they needed reinforcement. When we arrived there, everything was a mess. Bloody bodies belonging to the police force, staff and patients where scatterd around the floor. It was a really unpleasant sight... Joseph noticed that there was still one person alive, Dr. Marcelo Jimenez, and made me check on the cameras while he treated him. The next thing I remember is Ruvik staring at me and then blackness." He let out long sigh. "I don't know what i did to deserve to be here, sometimes i feel like giving up and wait for my death, but knowing that my partners are here too facing the same foes as I keeps me from going mad. I need to reach them, before... well, before I lose another one." His voice sounded guilty, as if he had lost someone of his team before. She didn't dare to ask him about it.

"And what do you think this is?" She asked instead.

"A nightmare, of course." He said with a small chuckle. "Actually, Dr. Jimenez explained me that we were connected through our brains to some kind of machine. How was it called again? STEAM? SPAM? I don't really remember, but we are connected to and through it." He stopped talking and looked at her curiously. "But I thought you knew? You never asked about this."

"Well, one tends to forget asking about those things when they are in a position like mine." She replied with a small smile though it didn't reach her eyes. He looked towards the door.

"Well, at least this time the door is opened." He tried to be optimistic, he really did. But it was really annoying having to go through that place again. Maybe Margarita wasn't so wrong saying that Ruvik may be making them walk in circles.

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The way was exactly the same as it had been before, creepy looking hall, old study and more creepy looking hall; only this time it seemed colder than the last time they were there. At the end of the hall stood another metallic door, but this one seemed different. More like belonging to a mansion it looked more appropiate for an OR.

"Another way?" Sebastian approached cautiously the door, deep in his mind he was waiting for it to explode or be locked. It wasn't nor did it explode.

"We'll have to open the doors to find out."

A bright light blinded them for a few seconds. Margarita blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the sudden change of lighting. They were in an operation room, which frankly had seen better days but after everything she and Sebastian had been through, she was starting to become accustomed to the bad hygiene everything had.

"Doc... what the hell do you think you're doing?" Sebastian spoke, and Margarita noticed at last that they weren't alone in the room. A strangely familiar man, probably in his fifties, had a young albino boy laying in a metallic table connected to a machine. She couldn't help but turn her attention to the man, where had she seen him before? Obviously, judging by the labcoat he was a doctor, maybe he worked in the same hospital as she? No, if this was the Dr. Marcelo Jimenez Sebastian had talked her about, he probably worked at Beacon. But she was still sure they had met somewhere, but she couldn't place where.

'Hmmm... Why do I know this man?' She revised all her memories even the ones she had so thoroughly tried to bury. He had to be there, maybe in the background, but he had to be there. So absorted she was in locating this man in her memories that she completely lost track of the conversation that was taking place, but snapped back to reality when she heard the boy scream in pain.

"Wait! Wait! What do you think you're doing?" She ran towards the machinery that caused pain to the poor boy.

"No! Don't touch that! He's our only hope!" Dr. Jimenez tried to grab her arms in vain as she was already trying to turn off the machine. The boy's cries grew desperate, almost pleading for someone to stop that pain. The frecuency of his screams turned acute enough to break every kind of glass. Sebastian covered his ears in pain.

"What kind of doctor lets his patient suffer like that?" She gasped when a electric shock hit her palm, leaving a small reddish scar. But eventhough her hand burned like if it was in fire she still looked for some kind of switch or plug to disconnect the boy.

"Stop! Are you mad?" She was forcefully yanked back by Doctor Jimenez. They both stopped when the room started changing. They were not in the rusty operations room anymore, but in a completely different place full of bathtubs connected between them and to a central system. Was this the system Sebastian had talked her about?

"Oh thank God, it's working." Doctor Jimenez sounded relieved, but Margarita didn't felt better at all. If he had to torture a young mentally unstable boy just to achieve his goals, what was the difference between Ruvik and him?

'Wait... the difference between Ruvik and him...' She thought.

"Oh God, I remember you now... you were sometimes in the Victoriano's manor, visitng Ruben, talking with him about his experiments." She had barely talked to this man other than to give the curtised nod for a greeting or the polite ''thank you''. Her opinion of him had been neutral, until now.

"It took you really long, doctor; and as you are wondering now, the answer is yes. I know every single detail of your relationship with Ruvik. It's not that he has told me about it, he seemed to be quite reserved about his private life; however you know what people say... actions speak louder than words." His grip turned painful to the point of almost breaking her arm. He continued talking as if he hadn't noticed her discomfort.

"I suppose you're wondering why I am telling you this. Well, I fear Ruvik is a bit more rancorous than we anticipated and is obstacling the way to great advances in the area of modern psychology. Ruvik won't stop at nothing to get what he wants and that bothers us, Mobius. If he continues to be a nuisance for the company, I'm afraid I'll be obliged to let my superiors know about your importance to him. And well... if it's necessary we'll have to tear his heart off his chest again to destroy him. You know what I mean..."

Marcelo didn't laugh evilly as she had expected him to, well as she had expected in any classical villain. Instead his face was deadly serious, whoever he worked to didn't fool around and wouldn't hesitate to use their connection for their gain. For the first time since that nightmare started, she felt that this series of happenings were much more than just a simple game of Ruvik's and was something of deeper importance.

She looked to Sebastian for support, but he looked to be in great pain clutching his head with one hand and with the other one the edge of the bed. He wouldn't help her this time.

The machine started beeping the waves in the screem slowly fading to normal. Something was wrong. A spark of electricity and a blackout was what indicated them that there had been a sudden fail in the machine which returned them to the operation room. Taking advantage of Marcelo's sudden distraction, she broke away from his hold and ran towards the boy and Sebastian. The young patient now sobbed uncontrolably, and Margarita felt her heart twinge in pain for the boy, he was so young, he couldn't be more than twenty, judging by his appearence.

They both helped him down the table, and slowly turned to face the towering beast that was in front of them. That creature, formed by multpiple human and animal parts, made Margarita's stomach churn in disgust. The patient whimpered and clutched her jumper, burying his face in the rough fabric, even when he was a few inches taller, being as he was made the job easier.

"That's it... That's why..." As Marcelo looked atonished at the creature the three of them backed away slowly, to not startle the monster.

"Doctor! Run!" Sebastian shouted at him, But his warnings fell on deaf ears.

"He wants the same thing as us... He wants out..."

The monster's huge hand came crashing down Dr. Jimenez. The slam was of an earthquaking force and the expansive wave sent them flying backwards. The last thing Margarita remembered before everything went black was the boy snuggling closer to her and Sebastian screaming their names.

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Pain, such excruciating pain. It consumed his whole being, he couldn't think, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't move. But he was still alive. Why was he still alive? He looked with a grimace at what had been left of his legs, now two crushed limbs torn off his body forming a mass of bones, muscles and blood. For a second he thought he could still feel them, even if now they were mashed.

The mutant creature's snarls turned feral, making him look up. Blue eyes met cold grey, a scared expression met a mocking one. Ruvik was going to enjoy making him suffer for all he had put him through.

"Do you really thought for a second you could outsmart me?" Ruvik let out a booming laugh. He wasn't a man who laughed much, in fact if someone asked him, this could be the first time he laughed since Laura. "And then you threaten what is mine so you can turn her against me?" Another dark laugh, how couldn't he laugh at this? "Maybe you aren't so clever after all." His words were cutting, hurtful and meant to intimidate; but Marcelo had had enough, if he was going die there he wasn't going to die as the coward he had been all his life. Ruvik and Mobius had threatened him enough, now was the time for payback.

"Let's get over with this."

"But why?" Ruvik purred. "I'm having so much fun right now. You don't have any idea about how much I've dreamed for this day to arrive." His smirk turned menacing and Marcelo felt sick.

"You're a monster. The only funny thing this has is that you still believe she will love you." Marcelo didn't regret his words, he knew that would drive him mad, mad enough to finish this quickly.

'Go big or go home. At least this will speed the process' He thought to himself.

Ruvik's smirk instantly dropped and was replaced with a murdeous expression. His lips were drawled back in a silent snarl and his eyes gleamed with madness. Even if he had been a kilometer away from him he still would have been able to see him shaking with barely contained rage.

Dangerously slow, Ruvik lifted up his arm, with the palm of his hand completely opened. Taking one last infuriated look at him he closed his hand, forming a fist, and Marcelo closed his eyes as an agonizing pressure invaded his head. His front pounded, and his blood boiled inside his skull.

In a few seconds, Marcelo's head exploded with a splattering sound, staining with his blood and brain matter the walls and floor. Without feeling an inch of compassion, Ruvik turned his attention towards one of Dr. Jimenez's eyeballs that had landed on the metal table.

"She will love me no matter what." He said emphasizing every word. "She promised."

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**i know Marcelo doesn't die like that but I wanted to write that :p**

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	16. Bully

**Hi! just waiting here for The Consequence to arrive and finally know what the fuck happens. Meanwhile I leave you with this small chapter so you won't get bored.**

**Thanks for all the encouragement! It helps me to keep writing!  
Sorry for any kind of mistakes!**

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Ruvik looked at the unconscious woman and the boy that lay besides her, also unconscious. She still hadn't woken up. In a blink, he stood in front of her, his cold eyes surveying her body, checking for any kind of life-threathening injures. Fortunately for him, she just had a small cut on her forehead and a scar on her hand, nothing that couldn't be easily healed.

Leslie on the other hand seemed pretty well for him, nothing out from the usual bruise caused by his doctor's negligence. It was a miracle the child had managed to survive all this time without him controlling his movements like a puppeteer, which was a great relief since he had never liked damaged goods.

Turning his attention back to Margarita, Dr. Jimenez's words resonated on his head.

"_You're a psychopath. The only funny thing this has is that you still believe she will love you."_

Ruvik's eyes widened and he clutched his head on his hands, grimacing with pain. No, the deceased doctor was wrong. She loved him, he was sure she did. All this time he had been protecting her from his subjects and Mobius, as he had always done since they were kids. He could easily remember the time when he vowed himself to protect her at any cost, it still stirred the blood in his veins; even when he knew he had taken care of the matter.

_Ruben and Margarita were seven and six years old at that time, and probably the best of friends. They went to school together, did their homework together and went home together, the only way they could be separated was in class, since he was a year older than her, and while they were sleeping. Otherwise, they were practically glued to each other if Laura wasn't around to join them. Until one day, when everything changed._

_Margarita started inisiting in going home alone. She didn't want to explain him why, and when he asked, she would say he needed time to 'think' alone, which was ridiculous because a six year old couldn't have any serious problem to think about. It unnerved and scared him at the same time, thinking that she didn't want to be his friend anymore. Maybe she also thought he was a freak. A deep sadness took hold of Ruben's heart._

_Soon his mood started worsening, taking too much time to return home and sometimes laying on the bed looking at the ceiling instead of doing his homework. His parents never noticed this sudden change of mood, as they were busy with the requirements that being an important member of their society called for. But Laura did, and over the days she grew worried about her brother and Margarita's whereabouts._

_She couldn't stand seeing her two and only friends de she decided that the next day, she would follow Margarita and see what had made her change her heart about going home with her brother. She patiently waited until the classes were over, it wasn't that she had anything better to do. As a woman, she was expected to stay at home, pray and raise the children; so that was why every girl at the age of ten was pulled out from school to be home schooled in the noble arts of manners and religion._

_What she saw didn't make her happy and certainly didn't make him happy. It turned out, Margarita was being bullied by one of the children of the farmers who hated their family and possesions, and to save him the pain of being hurt, she had sacrified herself. Every day on the path that lead to her house, that boy would be waiting for her, and then would proceed to throw dirt at her eyes and then push her to the ground and show her verbally how unworthy she was of being alive. He didn't know what angered him more, the fact that she didn't tell him or the fact that there was some fool mistreating his friend._

_And then he felt it. He had been too young to understand what he was feeling, but now he could classify it as the murdering rage he had barely managed to contain for more than twenty years. It had been the first time he felt that but certainly it wouldn't be the last. Such a insolence couldn't be left unpunished._

_That same night, he elaborated an intricate plan to make sure whoever was bothering her learned a hard lesson._

_The day after, he had faked a sickness and didn't go to school, chosing to stay in bed instead. When he made sure his parents or the maids would be bothering him, he had grabbed his bag and put all the necessary items he needed for his mission. He would make sure that boy got what he deserved._

_He found said boy, a redhead who barely went to school, maybe a couple of years older than him, sitting on a wooden fence looking at the sky, near one of the many farms the town had. Ruvik's glare turned ice cold and his expression became menacing. Now that he was behind him, he would act quick and eliminate that menace, Margarita and Laura would be so pleased... However, he wouldn't tell anyone his methods, he didn't want to upset them more than they were._

_He pulled out from his bag a bottle of the chloroform he found in the medical kit of the bathroom and an old handkerchief that belonged to his mother, wetting the piece of white silk. To not being discovered, he tip toed towards the boy, his eyes darkening with every step he took. He pounced on the child's back, making him lose his balance and fall on his knees. The boy struggled against Ruben's vice grip, but the effects of the chloroform soon kicked in and his body went limp._

_Taking advantage of his superior height, Ruben easily carried the boy to a remote part of the town, as near as possible of his manor. The sleepy induced state of the boy whose name he hadn't even bothered to learn would vanish soon. He had to be quick._

_Reaching for his bag, he pulled out two black robes and a headband, which he used to tie the boy to a tree and blindfold him. He also thought about gaging him with an old cloth, but thought it better. He wanted to hear him scream and ask for forgiveness._

_Another trip for his bag and he pulled out a box of cigarretes and matches that he had stolen from his father when he hadn't been looking, not that he cared much about his whereabouts. From behind him, the child was starting to regain conciousness and was trying to untie himself from the robes with no luck. A small calmed smile formed on Ruben's face and he lighted a cigarrete as he had seen his father doing so many times._

"_So you like to cause pain, right?" His voice sounded cold and deadly, almost irrecognisable and frankly terrifying for a seven year old. The boy struggled harder against his bonds._

"_Let me go!" He sobbed. "I want my mother!" His calls fell on deaf ears._

"_Well... here you have some for yourself..." He pressed the lighted cigarrete against his bare skin. The boy started screaming, begging him to stop, pleading with him, calling for his mommy. It was music for his ears. But he would never stop, that noisy brat needed to know that if someone hurts Ruben's Margarita, they would pay. Which every time the cigar touched the pale skin, the more clear he had that from now on, whoever dared to hurt his loved ones would suffer the same fate. _

_After five minutes he had to gag him, just in case he attracted too much unwanted attention. A couple of hours later the boy had passed out because of the shock and Ruben was looking uninterested to his marked arms. Though it had been great having revenge on him, he still didn't feel satisfied. Having been older he would have understood what he needed to do, but being a seven year old with a limited knowledge of emotions and passions didn't help much at all._

A sharp pain in the back of his head interrupted his precious memories. His eyes narrowed and his mouth curved into a grimace of disdain, someone was messing up with his world.

"Kidman..." He growled out. What was doing that woman now? Didn't she know when to give up? Well, he would just have to tear her pretty head off her shoulders. He had warned of the consequences that would come if she went along with her own personal mission and killed Leslie before he came to him.

He caressed Margarita's cheek one more time, enjoying the softness of her skin. Moments like this were special, as they were the only ones when he could forget about all the rage and hurt that was boiling inside him and feel the so longed peace.

"We are almost there, my love. Just a few steps more and we'll be together again. And then we'll be happy."

But first, there was some loose ends to destroy, the vow he forced himself to take years ago was very present in his mind, those loose ends were dangerous for them, thy must be eliminated. His face returned to the cool mask he usually reserved for those who were as important for him as the small stones beneath his charred feet, which was almost everyone. Excepting two. The only women he would ever care for. His only family.

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	17. Leslie

**A new chapter! This is ending, guys, just three chapters more and it'll be over.**

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**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes! And this chapter is dedicated to my friend Chocopath because... well she knows why.**

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The floor was hard and wet, her clothes were getting damp and she swore she coulf feel her fingers going numb and stiff. Margarita forced herself to open her eyes before the rest of her body went rigid and her skin turned blue.

"Whe-where am I?" Around her, the ruins of what had been before Krimson city stood unwavering, towering over her. Abandoned cars, broken glasses, closed shops, destroyed buildings, some roads had been cut down, leaving only a huge void. There must have been some kind of water lead as she had awoken in a large puddle. It looked like the earth had suffered an apocalypse worthy of those science-fiction movies Albert seemed to enjoy so much. She didn't mind watch one or two, but sometimes they were terribly unrealistic, just crime films for her, thank you very much.

Her friends, how much she was going to miss them. And she really hoped they had a wonderful wedding and many many years of happy marriage, they deserved that and much more. It was a shame she couldn't be there to see that. She had long ago come to terms that she would never live enough to assist the wedding. She knew she would never survive this nightmare, and certainly she would never survive if she was alone.

A shiver ran through her spine and she braced herself. She was alone in the ruined Krimson city, with God only knew how many foes lurking in the darkened corners. This time Sebastian wouldn't be here to protect her, she was on her own with a small gun that only contained four bullets. What the hell was she going to do with four bullets? The only good option for her was blow her brains out and end this suffering. But well, with her luck that would probably lead her to a fate ten times worse.

"AH! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Aaaah!" Margarita turned sharply her head in the direction where the scream had come. Judging by the tone of voice it belonged to that young boy she had previously met in the OR, what was his name again? Sebastian had screamed his name before they got separated but what was it? It started with an 'l'... Liam? Leon?

"Leslie... Leslie!" She ran towards the source of the sound, feeling pity for him. If she was scared then he was at the verge of a panic attack. She was no psychiatrist but she could easily see that boy had some kind of autism, and probably what he was feeling would be a hundred per cent more intense than a normal person would feel. Or maybe he had had a really traumatic experience in the past that made him enter that state. As she said before she was no psychiatrist.

Margarita didn't have any idea of where the boy would be hiding, frankly, she didn't even know if it was safe to run so freely with the state of the streets. But Leslie's scream turned louder and louder with every stride she took. The sound was leading her towards and old pawnshop that was in front of an old cafeteria where she and Seraphina had often go for a quick snack after work.

The front door seemed to be blocked by a fallen lamp, she tried to kick it open but there was no use, her strenght had never been really great.

"Oh, damn." She muttered rubbing her leg. The screams seemed to be coming from the inside, but no matter how hard she tried to open it, there was no avail. An idea came to her mind.

"It's going to be a precious waste of bullets, but I have no option." She looked around "Who am I talking to?" With shaking arms, since she still wasn't accustomed to hold a gun, she aimed her pistol towards the glass that covered almost all the front door, and prayed to not have to face any monsters inside.

*BAM*

The bullet formed a tiny hole in the glass, who then expanded forming several cracks which fell to the ground and broke into many other pieces. There were still remains of the glass that had previously been there, so she had to be extra careful to not cut her hand with its sharp points, she didn't want to harm herself more after all.

The pawnshop was a disaster, furniture blocked her path and she had to pass over them or surround them. From behind the counter, Leslie stood crouched whimpering in fear. Trying to not scare him more than he already was she approached him quietly, but when she put a comforting hand on his bony shoulder she only managed to startle him.

"No! No! No!" He backed away until his back touched the wall. Margarita took a better look at him. Leslie was pale, paler than any other person she had ever seen, and his body was really thin for a boy of his age. His left eye sported some kind of bruise on his left eyes, matching the huge eyebags that his eyes sported. Wherever this boy came from it was obviously a place where he had been neglected, another example of this was the blackness of his teeth.

"You don't have to fear me, Leslie. I'm not going to let anybody hurt you. You can trust me." She managed to say in the soothest voice she had. Leslie was still shaking, but at least seemed more open to trust her.

"I know they have hurt you, and it was really bad. But I'll promise you I'll protect you from any harm. Please Leslie, come with me." Leslie looked at her, but still didn't say anything. She was beginning to lose hope in him going with her willingly, but she couldn't leave without him. So what could she do? She didn't want to use the little strenght she had to force him into going with her. Luckily she didn't have to do anything because the boy walked towards her voluntarily.

"Good boy." She sighed in relief, caressing his cheek. Leslie flinched, thinking she was going to hit him, but relaxed when he saw she was only caressing him, it wasn't often when he received a nice gesture from someone. At least not since that thing with his family...

Margarita grabbed his hand and gently lead him to the front door, but stopped when she saw the sharp glass on the ground and the bare feet of the young boy. She pushed aside the remains of the broken glass with her foot.

"We don't want you more wounded than you already are do we?" Leslie didn't answer, he just nodded and clutched the fabrics of her jumper.

Though they had managed to pass the door, who knew how much dangers would be awaiting for them in the streets. The ground seemed cold and Leslie was shivering, only a white shirt and a pair of white pants didn't help much to protect him from the cold.

"Leslie, are you cold?"

"Cold... cold, cold, cold, cold..." His blackened teeth chattered, and the boy hugged himself even tighter to keep himself from freezing over.

"I... I know where we are, my apartment is a couple streets away... we can go there... Maybe I can find you something to wear..." She trailed, looking at her surrroundings anxiously.

The journey to her apartment, was surprisingly silent and quiet. No monsters disturbed them, but that didn't erase her nervousness. Leslie walked by her side, looking down and muttering incoherences. Sometimes he jumped a bit everytime he heard something crash or explode, but she couldn't blame him since she did exactly the same.

Seeing the familiar building in front of her brought a sense of relief and calmness over her. At last someplace where she could feel safe and she could protect better her companion. This thought came crashing down on her. She had to protect this young boy just like Sebastian had done with her. Now it wasn't her depending on someone, it was someone who depended on her for protection. She couldn't fail him.

Wires were hanging down the ceiling, small electric sparks falling over a puddle of dirty water. 'Better not step in there' She thought. The stairs cracked with their steps, but she was thankful for that. Otherwise she would have gone mad with all that silence. Finally they reached her apartment, however it was locked, and there was no key to be found.

"Oh, damn it!" She kicked the door. Now she understood Sebastian, if felt like Ruvik was treating them like idiots. Leslie whimpered and crouched on the ground, holding his head in his hands.

"It seems like I''ll have to go down and search in the janitor's room... you... just stay here alright." Leslie didn't say anything but didn't move either. So she just left him there to wait for her. Margarita prepared her gun, and descended slowly the stairs, just as she had seen in those movies.

The janitor's room was empty and rustier than she remembered, but she didn't care, she had come just for the keys, nothing more. Searching through the drawers, she accidentaly knocked a sheet, revealing the decomposing face of the janitor of her building, Lewis. She took a step back, grimacing with disgust. It was amazing how you could get accustomed to seen rotten corpses, even if they were from people whom you interacted daily.

Lewis had always been a weird man, always sporting a frown on his face and being really severe with almost everyone. Not really attractive with his short white hair, angular and wrinkled face and blue-grey eyes but he took really seriously his work, Lewis didn't tolerate any kind of failure. He had disappeared two weeks before Margarita awoke here. She had felt pity for him, just like she did now. A sad ending for an 'innocent' man.

She found the drawer where he kept a copy of all the neighbours' keys, and turned to left. A hand suddenly grabbed her ankle and made her fall on her face. Her nose made a bit of a cracking sound when it smashed against the ground but the pain soon was forgotten as she tried to pull her leg away.

"Aaahh! Let me go you bas-" The man pulled further and she fell again. From her position, she could see that there was a small axe under the desk. Not stopping to wonder how it had ended up there she extended her arm and reached for it. It was a difficult task since Lewis insistently pulled her towards him and her arms were a bit short to reach it.

When it was close enough for him, Lewis sank his teeth on her leg and she cried out, kicking with her other leg his face and efficiently breaking his nose. That was enough for him to release her leg and howl in pain, clutching his bloody nose. Margarita took her chance and reached for the axe, this time catching it. Taking a deep breath, she sank it in his skull, splattering blood and brain matter into her clothes.

She left the axe there, and grabbed her keys, limping as fast as she could upwards and feeling her heart pump wildly with adrenaline. Leslie was still there, crouched and waiting for her to come. Margarita felt thankful, she really wasn't in the mood to start chasing him.

Her apartment was a mess, the bookshelves where down, pages of her books were ripped and there was a huge hole in the wall of her room that had great apocalyptic views of the city. She had never felt more at home. At least she knew this place and could be safe from harm, however much to her dismay, she would have to go and look for Sebastian sooner than later so better not get comfortable.

Through the hole in her room she could see a bright light shining in the distance. It was like a lighthouse standing proudly in the middle of the darkness. Somehow it had a recomfortating effect on her.

"Is that Beacon?" She wondered, enraptured with it.

She pulled off the covers of her bed and threw them over Leslie, hoping he would warm a bit. In the process she accidentaly touched her nose and winced, that really hurt and there was a trail of blood running down her nostrils so better take care of that before doing something. Furthermore, that creature had bitten her so she would have to check her legs for any kind of injures. For a second she worried it had infected her with his saliva. However, she had to remind herself that this wasn't any B movie.

"I'm going to the bathroom, Leslie. Don't go out please." She knew he probably wasn't listening her, he seemed too occupied snuggling the sheets. At least he seemed calm. But for how long.

* * *

She looked through the med kit for some cotton to stop the nosebleed, there were fewer things than usual but she had to remind herself that this wasn't her real home, but just an 'exact' replica. But as always, this was better than nothing.

Pulling up the leg of her pants she sighed relieved that the bite hadn't been hard enough to break the skin. But there were the ugly marks of his teeth printed in her legs.

Margarita took a good look at herself in the mirror, the dirty clothes, the bags under her eyes and disheveled hair were something usual in this place, but her nose was starting to bruise. She didn't have any ice and the fridge probably wasn't working, the only thing she could do was to open the tap and pour some water in her face to refresh a bit. Sadly, the only thing that came out from the tap was a brown liquid mixed with blood. Sighing, she looked up from the sink to the mirror.

She found herself staring at Ruvik with an unreadable expression on his face standing behind her. Her blood froze and her breath caught in her throath. Though she should be accustomed since it wasn't the first time they met in the same place, she was still shocked by his mere presence. It was difficult to accept that he had been 'alive' all this years.

Not breaking eye contact, she stepped back from the sink and towards the door. Slow and catious, without any abrupt movements to not startle him. She let out a soft gasp while at the same time a cold shiver ran down her spine when her back collided with something hard that wasn't the wall or the door.

Forgetting about the rule against any sharp movements, she turned around, expecting to face Ruvik. Only it wasn't him the one whom she had crashed into, instead of him, she found Leslie. But the Leslie she found stood with his back straight, towering over her; with his mouth set into a thin line and his eyes piercing into the deepest corner of her soul. It was impossible he was the same fearful, innocent and mentally weak Leslie she had been escolting all this time.

"Leslie..." She stumbled back, uncomfortable under the penetrating look on his face. In her attempt to escape from him, she slipped and was about to fall backwards when Leslie's arm shot fowards ang grabbed her waist, pulling her to him. A sudden way of dizziness came over her. She knew what was coming next.

"Oh no... not again..."

Margarita looked into his eyes just before the world went black once more. Atonished, she saw how they turned from soft blue, to cold grey. That confirmed her that the boy in front of her wasn't Leslie at all, but a completely different person. In fact, it was his polar opposite.

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**Leave reviews, favorite and follow if you like it!**

**PS: For those who had already seen The Consequence, could you explain me what happened at the end? Because I am really confused, I didn't understand it. And is there a feminine version of 'Son of a Bitch' ? *SPOILER NOW* Because that's how I would describe Myra.**


	18. The Spider

**Whoah, it has been really long since the last update, I am really sorry. I am also sorry to announce that there isn't going to be as many updates as I want, I'll have to leave him this a bit abandoned (partially because I have exams and because I want to center in another fanfictions) but this will be finished I swear it for my bunny.**

**Anyway, sorry for my mistakes, I promise that when I finish the story I'll try to correct them all.**

**Enjoy the chapter and thanks for all your encouragement!**

**PS: A huge thank you to the guest called The Consequence who took his/her time to write a long review explaining to me the DLC so I could understand it better. Thanks guest! You Rock!**

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Her head hurt, a lot. Just like that time in college when she got drunk for the first time in her life and ended up throwing up in an unknown man whom she was going to have sex with's chest. Only this time there wasn't any alcohol involved, but it was as worse as a hangover. How could Leslie do this to her?

Her head shot up at the realization and her eyes widened when she saw that she wasn't in her apartment anymore, but in a school bus. That presumably weak boy had carried her from the safety of her home to here, the nerve of him!

"Leslie!" She called, holding a seat to pull herself up. A wave of fatigue came rushing over her and she sat down. Taking deep breaths, Margarita leaned her forehead against the cold window. Everything was so complicated here, she wished she could understand, she also wished there was someone who could explain it to her. Make her understand why, she had been pulled from her home to this nightmare, why her friend had never showed himself all this years, leaving her alone. Why he would cause her all this pain if he was going to get out anyway. She felt so stupid for loving him still.

Margarita started to hear voices approaching and stood up. When she reached for her gun she froze when she saw it was missing.

"Oh God no." The voices were getting louder, however the more louder the more familiar they got, and she let out a relieved sigh when she recognised one as Sebastian's.

"Sebastian!" she called. The detective's eyes widened and a relaxed expression washed through his face.

"Glad you're alive and well." He nodded at her. Margarita looked behind him, where another police officer, an Asian man with glasses, stood looking at her with a dazed expression. Sebastian arched an eyebrow at him.

"Joseph, this is Doctor Margarita Hernandez. Doc, this is my partner, Detective Joseph Oda."

"How did you get in?" The man, Joseph, she reminded herself, interrupted.

"Excuse me?" She asked confused at his rudeness. He looked a bit taken aback.

"Sorry, it's just, when I found this bus, it was... empty."

"I-I don't know I just woke up here." Margarita wasn't sure if she could tell this Joseph about her complicated relationship with Ruben, or Ruvik as she was starting to address him. She only hoped Sebastian hadn't told him anything. It was something really private, something she didn't want everybody to know. A tense silence grew between the three.

"Anyway, This thing gonna run?" Sebastian asked, trying to break the atmosphere of unesteadiness.

"Only one way to find out."

"Shit!" Before Joseph had time to grab the wheel, a woman came running through the door and sat in the driver's seat, starting the car. Or at least trying to.

"What are you doing?" Sebastian demanded. The woman didn't answer or gave proof that she had listened him. Sebastian felt himself starting to become impatient. "Answer me Kid-" The car pulled off and all of them lost their balance. Margarita looked up to the window just as the same time a huge claw descended and smashed against the ground, followed by many others.

A crashing sound revealed the giantic body of a spider at the end of the bus. Margarita felt a sudden urge to scream when one of his claws pierced through the ceiling and teared it off the bus, she barely managed to contain herself from fainting.

"Oh no!" The woman screamed pressing her foot on the accelerator. However, the spider was too fast for them, and soon was able to keep up with them. There was only an option, to fight. Running away was out of the question.

"Damned if I going to die here..." Sebastián muttered raising his sniper rifle. "Say hello, motherfucker."

The spider didn't take really well being turned into a dartboard and in return, it started shooting acid at them from several pores on its belly. One touched the driver's arm, who winced with a curse and pulled the wheel so hard it throwed them of balance. Margarita looked under the seats and squealed with joy, her small gun had been there all this time, looks like she wasn't going to be harmless after all. Only three bullets left, but at least she could say she tried to help them.

_BAM!_

The first bullet missed the spider's head and entire body by a few meters. It wasn't her fault, really, she didn't even know how to shoot in the first place, nothing had prepared her for a situation like this. Margarita promised herself that if this nightmare ended and she was alive, she would ask Sebastian to teach her how to shoot. Just in case something like this happened again. The spider threw back its head and roared making her jump back in fright.

Sebastian and Joseph looked like the professionals they were, shooting bravely not fearing the consequences. She would love to be that brave, all this time she had put the excuse of Ruvik being her friend and rapist to hide the fact that she was actually a coward who always had ran away from problems, just like when she fled from the village despite that in the deepest part of her mind and heart she felt Ruben wasn't so dead after all. But these people, even the unknown woman were sacrificing themselves to keep her, a stranger, safe. Partly because it was their duty as policemen, but in secret she knew that if they were not policemen, they still would have done the same.

In that moment she knew that even if she fell in battle, she would try her best to return them the favor and make sure they managed to escape. Thinking like that made her feel that maybe she wasn't so coward after all.

"Watch out!"

Sebastian grabbed a stick and throwed it at the spider's head, which it prompty swallowed it. Margarita backed away when she saw Sebatian and Joseph doing the same. She wasn't sure what it was exactly going to happen but she covered her face for protection. Something exploded inside the spider and smoke started coming from its mouth and pores. The spider let out a roar and chased them even more insistently than before, it was furious now. Now that she could take a better look at its head she felt bile again rising to her throat when she saw it reminded her of a human's head.

'Damn, don't throw up now, please.' She begged while her stomach growled and churned in protest.

Acid was pouring from the pores like a fountain and with every shot the spider grew more relentless in trying to break them in two with its claws. Grabbing a hold of the bus with its legs, it shook it trying to make them fall, to make sure they had it even harder the spider released its larvae with sharp pointy teeth to rip their limbs off.

One grabbed Sebastian leg and procceed to bite his skin off. Blood poured from his leg, that for his dismay it had been the one that had been wounded previously. Sinking a kinfe into what he supposed was the worm's heart, ended the problem though. The pain of its young was enough for the spider to lose concentration and fall from the bus.

"Get this thing moving!" Seb ordered the woman, another detective she supposed.

The spider was crawling towards them coming closer with each long stride it took. They were running out of bullets, she knew, and if they didn't do something soon they would probably be dead. The creature jumped in front of them and made Sebastian fall backwards, turning him into the perfect victim. Just as the spider was about to pierce his body with its claw, they entered a tunnel. The spider being as huge as it was, smashed against it, falling dead to the ground. They let out a long sigh, even if there was something much worse waiting for them in Beacon, at least there was one less foe to face.

* * *

The ride was quieter now. Another silence had formed between the four, and Margarita was feeling out of place. Sebastian, Joseph, and the woman who had been introduced as Junior Detective Juli Kidman had known each other from before, they were colleagues and probably friends. Margarita didn't have anything to do with them, she was just a civilian who had had the bad luck to befriend and love the man that keep them in his brain.

"Where are we heading, Joseph?" Sebastian was, just like before, the one to break the silence. Joseph relocated his glasses, which to Margarita's taste were really hipster, before speaking.

"I've got a theory. We seem to be moving around an awful lot. Almost as if by somebody's will." Of course they were moving by somebody's will, it was Ruvik's will, but she didn't add that fact. "So it's nearly impossible to get any sense of the geography around here. But the light, Beacon Mental Hospital it's always in the distance..." He pulled a notebook from his vest pocket and showed Sebastian a drawing he had made. "This thing you found me hooked up to. I've seen it in more than one place."

"Yeah, so have we." Sebastian answered. "It seems like it's the same exact one but it's hard to be sure."

Joseph continued talking "The thing that I've noticed is that each time I ran across one I seem to be closer to the light house."

"So our main goal is to reach Beacon. It's supposed that we entered into this nightmare when we went to Beacon, so if we go there what could we find? Since all our minds are connected to this machine we are just mere representations of ourselves in Ruvik's mind, so I suppose our physical bodies will be probably in a comatose sleep and at the same time connected to this machine in those things. The problem is, how will we get out of here? It'll probably require some action from outside, and as far as I know, there isn't anyone that we know that knows we are trapped in a mental hospital." Margarita, despite being a great professional in her area, still found all this experience really confusing and hard to understand.

"We'll have to destroy Ruvik and you know it." Sebastian looked at her, even if they both knew he didn't need her approbation to do anything. Margarita's eyes watered at his harsh words.

"Sebatian, please no... I don't want this to end with Ruvik's death, I know that everything he has done goes beyond abominable but please, don't kill him."

Joseph looked at her with an astonished look on his face, while Kidman looked at her on the rear-view mirror. Sebastian's eyes hardened.

"And why should we do that? After everything he has put us through! After everything he has put you through! And you still try to defend him? How can you still love that bastard?" He nearly shouted at her. Margarita's shoulders slumped.

"He was the only person I thought I had lost forever that actually came back." She mumbled, then looked at Sebastian in the eye. "I know that none of you are willing to forgive him so easily, I know you hate him with all the fibers in your being, but please understand that he was important for me. Just give me time, I beg you, I know I can change his mind." And there it went her privacy, out of the window. But what other options she had? They needed to know that her relationship with him wasn't as simple as their was. She had to at least try to lure Ruvik to stop killing people.

Joseph looked at Sebastian with a look that said 'are we really going to trust her?' while Sebastian felt Kidman's burning glare through the mirror. He sighed in defeat, he was going to regret this really hard.

"We don't have much time, I'd dare to say we don't have time at all. But I'm willing to give you a chance if we run into him. But keep one thing in mind, Doctor; if you fail, I'll put a bullet in his brain. Am I clear?" She nodded at him, feeling no less relieved by that. Sensing the uneasiness in the atmosphere of the nearly destroyed bus and not willing to interfere with Doctor Hernandez and Seb's own matters with Ruvik, Joseph cleared his throat and continued talking.

"The right side looked like it lead more directly toward the hospital." A bullet pierced the right side of Joseph chest when he got up to give Kidman directions. Sebastian and Margarita ran towards the fallen detective.

"Joseph, NO!" Sebastian tried to put some pressure in the detective's wound, but it was bleeding too much. He would die from shock and bloodloss if they didn't get him a med kit. "Just get us out of here!" He commanded Kidman.

"There's an ambulance there, there may be some kind of first aid." Margarita looked over where Kidman had pointed. Whoever went for it, could better go fast through the labyrinth of cars and fire of Joseph would be lost.

"I'll go." Kidman offered just to be stopped by Sebastian.

"No, I'll do it. Don't let any of them onboard."

Joseph moaned in pain, and the pressure Sebastian was placing on his chest was replaced by Margarita's. "Hurry up, Sebastian. He's not going to last much." He nodded at them and exited the bus, rifle in hand.

While Sebastian ran towards the ambulance and killed every creature he found on his way, Margarita put pressure on Joseph wound to keep it from bleeding. After a few tense minutes, she felt someone glaring at her from the driver's seat. Turning her head, she saw Kidman with an indecipherable expression on her face.

"What happens?" She asked worriedly. Kidman blinked at her.

"Nothing." She said curtly, and then turned around to face the front window with a bored look on her face. Margarita didn't know how but felt that that woman considered she was more of a nuisance than help. And probably she was right, but where she lacked in battle she compensated it with medical knowledge. Though she specialized with dead people, it still counted right?

Sebastian came rushing through the door with several bandages in hand. In the distance you could hear the sound of a tommy-gun being shot, probably at them. He handed her the bandages and she tried her best to cover up the mess the bullet had made, though Joseph would need to rest and not do any sudden movements the bullet hadn't touched any vital organs so he would survive.

"Shit." She looked up at Sebastian's curse and gasped when she saw a hoard of monsters coming towards them. Better get out of there fast.

"Let's get out of here fast." Sebastian ordered loading his gun with the few bullets he had found on his quest.

Kidman pressed the accelerator, easily smashing against the small barricade of cars that had formed on the road, behind them the creatures ran, chasing them in vain. They believed themselves to be safe, now they could go to the hospital and end all of this madness.

A few meters in front of them, the lonesome figure of Ruvik materialized in the middle of the road. Even if Kidman had been told that here he was almost invincible that didn't mean she wasn't going to miss the chance of running over him. However as she was about to add even more pressure to the accelerator she felt the bus starting to lift in the air, leaving any kind of control over the bus useless. Her eyes widened with slight fear. She hadn't the control of the bus anymore, Ruvik was now in charge. And as they passed beside him and crashed against the buildings, sending them flying in every direction, she swore she saw him smirk.

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**Well, well... It looks like Margarita still loves him very much (I don't blame her for that) But will she be able to save him from his own madness? Will he ignore her and continue with his plan? Will they finally kill him? You will have to wait to discover it becauseI may follow the game's ending but also I may not...**

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	19. The Yard

**Whoah, sorry for taking so long but life happened. And now, the wifi I have sucks, really. But don't worry this will never be left unfinished I swear for my bunny.**

**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes! I promise when I end this fic I'll correct them.**

**And thanks for all your encouragement! It really means a lot for me and helps me to continue writing. Your reviews, favorites and follows are what take all my writing insecurities away!**

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As she fell from the bus, Margarita couldn't help but notice the terrified expressions in her companion's faces and wondered if this would really be the last time she saw them. The distance was growing between them, while the three detectives plus the bus were sent flying to a building, she felt like she was being pulled away from the crash by an unknown force. Soon their faces were just a tiny dot in the distance, impossible to say what expressions they were sporting.

Before she was able to call for them, her surroundings were changing again, and soon the buildings and damaged roads were replaced with the hospital walls she had got to know really well. It was empty, so there was no possible way she could reach for something to grab. A sharp pain ran through her backside when she crashed against something and passed through it, by how it sounded it seemed the force of her fall had broken it. As she continued falling, this time downwards, she observed with great displeasure that she had crashed through a window and was now probably heading to the ground. She closed her eyes as a way to protect herself, but from what exactly? from the cruel reality? she perfectly knew that not seeing it didn't mean she wouldn't feel the pain.

The more she saw the broken window move away from her sight, the more ready she got for the pain she would feel from the back of her head to her heels. She gasped in surprise when she landed on something soft and squishy. As Margarita looked behind her, she saw she had laned on a bush, and it wasn't the only one in there. That new place was quite different than any other she had been before, and she was thankful that small yard that functioned at the same time as a garden; it almost seemed unbelievable that the tetric looking Beacon Mental Hospital could have hidden inside a place like this.

She winced when she felt something wet fall on her nose from above and blinked when it happened again. Margarita got up looked up at the dark sky in wonder, she never thought a place like that could have something as beautiful as rain. More raindrops fell from the sky, splashing against her and her surroundings. Soon that gentle drops turned into pouring, but that didn't mattered to her, she felt alive and happy. There was no words in the world to explain what she was feeling at that moment and when she closed her eyes and just let herself enjoy the rain, everything bad that had happened to her in those days, better say in all her life, just vanished as if it had never existed, the best thing she could do was enjoy it before reality came crashing down on her again.

Letting out a peaceful breath, she approached the flowers that were growing in the garden, she couldn't help but find ironic that the only flowers that were growing there were daisies. She chuckled a bit as she bent over to smell them. Of course, they would be odorless, nothing here was what it seemed to be.

However, her happiness only lasted the few minutes she kept looking at the flowers. When she turned around, Margarita shrieked when she found Leslie standing there, also enjoying the rain with his eyes closed. Much to her surprise, when he heard her scream, he didn't even scream back and retreat to a corner, nor did he flinch; he just turned his head at her and gave her a goofy smile before returning to his enjoyment of the rain. Margarita felt torn between fleeing in search of the detectives or just staying there not making any sudden movements that could alert the kid and break that peaceful state he had put himself into. Her past events with him were still very recent in her mind, she still didn't know if she should trust him since experience had told her he wasn't the innocent little boy he pretended to be.

She didn't have to worry for much more, because the doors of the garden suddenly were banged open and through them passed Sebastian, looking really worn down and tired, however his face turned the slightlest bit releived when he saw her with Leslie.

"Leslie? Margarita!" Sebastian took a hesitant step towards them. Leslie, having opened his eyes again just looked at him and smiled. With an unnatural calmness, he went towards the main doors of the building, leaving them behind. Margarita, making sure he wasn't going to return for them, took her chance and approached Sebastian.

"Sebastian, are you ok? Where are the others?" She felt a small twingle of regret when she saw his eyes sadden when she asked him.

"Joseph is... dead. And Juli is... I don't know... nor do I care. Come on, we have to find Leslie."

Margarita felt bad for the poor man. It wasn't that she had known him very much, but Sebastian did, and he was really important to him. But Sebastian was right, getting Leslie was the priority here, even when she felt he wasn't really trustworthy, information that she wisely keep to herself.

On the other side of the doors an empty waiting room, one of its most outstanding characteristics was that it was actually the first part of that world that seemed to be clean and undestroyed. But that only raised its suspiciousness.

Margarita pushed open the white hospital doors at the end of the room. Another hall extended as clean and normal as the room from before which fullfilled their doubts. This was too normal, too common being compared with the hell they had been put through.

As they advanced Sebastian stopped to look through the window of one of the cells. At first she didn't give it importance, thinking that maybe he had seen something that had caught his attention. However when seconds turned into minutes she began to worry and started shaking him. She only caught a brief ''Ruvik's eye'' escaping from his mouth before he returned to reality.

"Sebastian, are you ok?" She asked worriedly. He blinked a few times.

"Uhhh... Didn't you hear that?"

"What?" She asked confusedly.

Sebastian didn't have time to answer as a sharp pain came crashing down his head, forcing him to clutch his head in his hands and then look at the end of the hall. Margarita followed his line of sight and took as step back as she saw the ghostly figures of three policemen running towards them.

"What?" Sebastian wondered.

Those ghostly images suddenly turned into real life images, they had become the men and women they had previously been. They looked so real and vivid, she thought she could extend her arm and feel their warms skins. But those representations soon came to an end when Ruvik appeared and at inhuman speed slashed them all like . He didn't waste any time, the last body hadn't even vanished into the ground and he was already holding Sebastian by his throat in a vice grip. Though he was smaller in height and slimmer in built Ruvik was really strong if he was able to lift the man off the ground.

Sebatian's face was starting to turn into a purplish colour and Ruvik let out a small smile of satisfaction. It had been fun while it had lasted but now he was putting this charade to an end. Margarita didn't waste any second and launched herself at Ruvik's arm, hoping to pry his hand off Sebastian's neck. Ruvik, even if he was slightly surprised didn't let that stop him, not even her desperate pleas.

"Ruben, please! Ruben please, stop!"

Sebastian was starting to see white dots on his sight, he knew Ruvik won't cease on his attempt to kill him. In a weak attempt he reached for the lantern he had attached to his belt. Using the little amount of strenght he had left he smashed the light on Ruvik'd head, shattering it and burning him.

Margarita let out of Ruvik's arms with a yelp when a piece of glass sliced her cheek leaving a deep cut.

Ruvik groaned and withered in pain while he tried to extingish the fire that had spread through his body at high speed before it actually damaged something. But it was too late, the hooded robe that had been covering his face and his too thin body fell burnt to the ground, revealing the hideous sight that with great effort it had tried to hide. Bald head with half of it replaced with glass, revealing half of his brain, ugly looking burns that now gleamed on his grey skin with red; she only had one question on her mind, why had he let this happen to his body?

Ruvik, trying to cover his body from their sight, peered behind his arm to look at Sebastian with a deadly glare full of hate and resentment, how dare he use the fire that had caused so much pain to him against him? He wanted to play dirty? Well so be it. Let's see how he handled being in the darkest corner of his mind.

Margarita gasped in fright when she saw Sebastian vanish in thin air. With him being transported to Ruben knows where, there were only the two of them in the room. Ignoring her silent pleas, Ruvik then turned his attention on her. He retreated back a few steps trying to hide his body from her while he watched her intently. Margarita knew that whatever chance she had at convincing him it was now, so she better use it. Before she had time to act on her promise, her surroundings started to disintegrate, leaving her alone in the darkness with Ruvik. But soon, he disappeared too, leaving her cold, in the middle of nothing.

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**Leave reviews, favorite and follow if you like it!**

**PS: Recently I received on Wattpad one of the best reviews I've ever had. My friend had this crazy idea about how 'Let it Go' would sound if Ruvik was the singer, so she changed the lyrics. And I have to say that the results are priceless. Here you have them:**

**The blood comes out in the nightmare tonight **

**Not a single one alive... **

**A kingdom of blood and monsters and it looks like I'm the king... **

**The static's buzzing like this statc brain of mine... **

**Couldn't keep it in, but I didn't try **

**"You'll be right here", "you won't go out" **

**"Cause the cult don't deserves a guy like you" **

**"You have to hide, they musn't know" **

**Well, now they know!**

** Kill'em all, Kill'em all**

** I want to play a bit more **

**Kill'em all, Kill'em all**

** Turn their muscles and their pride **

**I will kill everyone around, let the flesh rip off **

**The blood never bothered me anyway **

**It's funny what the people hold inside their brains, **

**And the sorrow that daddy gave me **

**Won't get to me at all **

**It's time to see what I can do, **

**To test the psyche of the "men"**

** No stop, no rejects, no rules for me, **

**I'm heeeere **

**Kill'em all, Kill'em all **

**When I want, I can kill you too **

**Kill'em all, Kill'em all **

**Perfection is all I do **

**And Laura will come back again to me **

**Let the flesh rip off **

**Disections, lobotomies, all I do it for fun **

**That damn "Seb" detective's destruction began **

**And one thought will make to have my Margarita aside**

** I'll never show concern, it's time to have revenge**

** Kill'em all, Kill'em all**

** When I want, I can tear you off **

**Kill'em all, kill'em all **

**My perfection has come **

**And Laura will come back again to me **

**Let the flesh rip off **

**The blood never bothered me anyway**

**PS2: Now I can't stop laughing because I am picturing him wearing that ''sexy'' dress X,D**


	20. Memories of the Past

**Hello! I am back again! and another chapter! I have to say that this is coming to an end I guess it would be two or three chapters more.**

**A/N: There is a Disney reference here, let's see if you find it ;)**

**Thanks for all the encouragement! It helps me to keep writing!**

**Sorry for my mistakes in grammar and vocabulary, I'll try to correct them once I am finished!**

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It was pitch black, but despite of the darkness she could feel the presence of someone else, but as soon as she noticed it the sensation vanished. She felt the thorns of the glacient cold prickling on her skin as needles, paralyzing even her flesh and her heartbeats. A sickening smell of moister filled her nostrils and made her cough. She tried taking one step using her hands as her eyes in the darkness, she retreated her hand back when she felt the cold and rough texture of the naked wood. Margarita trembled, she sighed and clenched her teeth. She begged herself not to be scared. Then, she felt it, it was another piece of Ruben's memories.

She could hear someone walking towards her, and along with the steps, the sound of someone being dragged towards her position and the desperate screams of a weak voice echoing louder as the steps got closer caused her to hear a static piercing her eardrums for a second that lasted an eternity, what made her feel the most uncomfortable pain, but afterwards she felt relieved, even safe.

_*BANG*_

The door opened, and the light filled the room. She could hear clearly the pathetic cries of a young boy pleading for help and begging the one who was dragging him. It didn't surprise her that they were Ruben and Ernesto Victoriano, instead she felt anger. However she didn't know if she felt more rage towards Ruben or towards the man who had been the father of her best friend.

But suddenly the kid was pushed and fell down the stairs smashing his face against the floor. Margarita doubted for a second, but then ran towards the ghostly image of the fallen boy, trying in vain to touch him. Not leaving Ruben's side she faced Ernesto, who stood at the top of the stairs with an arrogant look on his face.

"_The cult was right about you. You are a monster, and your face won't ever see the sunlight again."_

"_W-why?" _ Ruben mumbled.

"_You are ugly, and these are crimes for which the world shows little pity."_

Margarita got up and tried to run upstairs, though she wasn't close enough by the moment Ernesto shut the door. She felt frustated. With all the strenght she had, she banged on the door.

"Goddammit, old man!"

"_Marga..rita..."_

She turned towards the voice that had called her name. Ruben was still laying on the floor, . With the little strenght he had left he sat over his knees and sobbed.

"_Margarita...*sniff* Now I won't be able to protect you... I won't be able to save you from this town... *sniff * As I couldn't save Laura."_

Margarita felt a pang on her chest, the image of Ruben changed and he grew a bit taller while he was hugging himself and crying loudly in a dirty way. His hands had the shadow of bloody stains, his nails were completely broken and full of small pieces of broken wood.

She looked at her surroundings using the little light Ruben's memory emmanated to her advantage. It wasn't a very big room if you compared it with the others in the manor. The walls were a dirty shade of grey, but it was probably due to lack of cleaning. A lay of dust covered the few boxes that were in the room. Old pieces of furniture had also been moved there, and now they spent their days covered with a white sheet that had seen better times. Nobody had ever entered the basement, only to put those things that now were broken and useless. Just like him.

Ruben continued crying by her side, his sobs getting weaker with each passing second. When his cries subsided, with great effort he got up from the dirty ground and walked up the steps with a demotivated and tired pace. Once he was in front of the door, he started to sctratch it with his fingernails or whatever was left of them. It really was a heartbreaking scene. Small grunts of pain escaped from his mouth as he continued scratching the wooden door, his movements growing frantic in impatience and anxiety.

Because one harsh movement, one of his fingernails broke, making him let out a small cry of pain, but that didn't stop him, he continued scratching even if he was now leaving a small trail of blood. Margarita had to look away from the scene, as it was too much of her. She was familiar with blood, she could dissect a corpse without feeling the urge to puke, but this; this was someone she had known and loved; and even if he was now tormenting her and the rest of survivors, this was only a young boy. How old could he be? Fourteen? He had spent most of his teen years and a small part of his adulthood trapped inside this basement, suffering from loneliness and madness. When she looked again at him, he had alredy vanished.

A weak light at her side startled her. An older Ruben, probably on his sixteens lay on a pool of his own vomit, shivering and suffering spasms every few seconds, his bony body seemed even bonier, showing sings of malnutrition, and his eyes were sunk and hollow, deep purple bags decorated them. His clothes were dirty and torn, and the burns on his body had gotten infected.

She turned around, she couldn't look at him like that, her heart was clenching on her chest and tears formed in her eyes. A sob escaped from her mouth, why did he had to suffer so much? How could he do this to her? Was this her punishment? To see how much had he suffered because of her cowardice?

"_She will come for us, right?"_

A cold shiver ran down her spine when she heard his weak voice, in the process of maturing, speak aloud. Could he see her?

"_Laura? Do you think she will come? I think she will."_

Margarita, relaxed her stance when she noticed that he wasn't talking to her, but to some hallucination of Laura probably caused by sickness.

"_I miss her too. I want us to be together again."_

She didn't say anything. This was the Ruben she wanted the innocent morbid boy, not that demented psycho that had been tormenting her since she was abducted from her home. A pathetic whimper was heard from behind her back.

"_My skin... my body... it burns... it burns so much... it is hurting me..."_

She turned to look at him, his image was already fading. However just as he was about to disappear he did something that would always prey on her mind. He looked at her. Not look through her, but truly look at her, and it broke her heart. His eyes were the spitting image of pain and misery, the amount of suffering that lingered in them was too great to not take notice. The expression on his eyes never wavered as he disappeared, which only made her feel worse. She deduced Ruben wasn't finished with her, in fact, he probably wouldn't stop until he drove her as mad as she was using his tragic childhood and teenagehood memories to his advantage, to make her feel responsible of that. Or not, she didn't knew him anymore.

Another memory shone at her side, but when she dared to look, she wasn't able to recognise the Ruben from before in it. This wasn't a weak boy shivering in fear and pain, this was a man, disfigured consumed by rage and resentment, whose eyes only showed one thing: revenge.

"_Just a few minutes more, Laura. A few minutes more and we'll be free."_

Footsteps could be heard approaching the room and Margarita hid herself behind a pile of wooden boxes, eventhough she perfectly knew that the memory couldn't see her, nor could they harm her. The door to the basement opened and Ernesto descended the stairs, she saw Ruben's hunched figure tense.

Ernesto made a grimace at the poor state he was in and looked at him with disdain._"Today we have buried Margarita's father. It was a really tragic death, brain cancer, such a pity."_

She didn't saw how Ruben clenched his fists at the mention of her name, since she was too busy remembering that fateful day. It wasn't any surprise that her father suffered from cancer, but his death had happened so suddenly she refused to believe it had happened at all, she had already lost two of the most important people of her life, she couldn't lose the one that was left.

She had stood quiet during all his funeral, looking at her father's coffin with a blank look on her face hoping he would wake up and return home. It never happened.

"_You're nothing but a distant memory to her. A ghost from the past that will never come back, and if you did, do you really think she would want your friendship with your looks? You're disgusting. And I am embarrased of you."_

The image of Ruben was shaking with rage, not fear, not sickness. The same red burning rage that had taken over him.

"_Did you think I wouldn't notice how are you trying to escape? Did you think me a fool? You'll never get out from this place, never! This is were you belong because you are a mons-"_

Ernesto didn't have time to finish his phrase, since Ruben launched himself at him throwing his father out of balance. Ernesto scrambled away from his deranged son and tried to crawl upstairs, only to have his leg grabbed by Ruben, who was now holding a piece of a broken glass from one of the old mirrors. With his other leg he kicked his son's face and pushed him downstairs, leaving him briefly stunned. Taking advantage of Ruben's situation, he ran to the top of the stairs and pushed the door, leaving it to close on its own, mistake that would lead him to his doom.

Margarita followed up an enraged Ruben, who, knife in hand, had followed his father and passed through the door, not giving it a chance to close. He stormed through the halls and stopped in front of the main bedroom of the manor, his lips curling up into a snarl when he saw the closed doors. He tightened his hold on the glass, ignoring the blood drribbling down his hand.

With all the strenght he had and the rage that fueled him, he launched himself against the door to break it open, the first time he didn't succeed but the determination and hate she found in his eyes signaled that he wasn't going to cease on his attempts. The second time he did it with much force, but still it wasn't enough, however she saw that the door was beginning to creak under his weight.

She could hear faint voices from the other side, wishpering between them. Margarita only managed to catch a few words, 'shotgun' and 'possessed' were among them.

With a third final slam, the door opened, revealing the figures of Ernesto and Beatriz Victoriano in front of the bed, Beatriz hugging her husband for protection while looking at Ruben with fearful eyes.

"_Ernesto, who is that man?"_

Ruben went still, and for a second she saw something cross his eyes, something she had never seen before, it was like something had finally broken inside of him. She wondered what it must feel, to have endured the most horrible of hells and then having your own mother not recognising you and looking at you like if you were a monster.

It all had happened so fast, Ruben had pounced his parents and ignoring their struggles he had sliced their troats open with a clean cut. He looked with an impassive face how his parents eyes lost the little light they had in them. He was quite a sight, covered in blood, she swore she saw the corners of his mouth twitch in an attempt of a smile.

Turning away from the bodies, he looked at the very spot where she was standing and she felt paralysed by his fiery gaze.

"_They all will pay for this. Nobody will escape. " _

As he disappeared the room changed from cold to an almost burning state. It was burning hot in that room, and was smoke what she was smelling? The walls started to melt, so did the furniture, turning into a goo of pestilent burned trash.

The smoke was surrounding her, making her difficult to breath, with every breath she took the smoke entered in her lungs and remained there. She coughed several times, trying to alleviate the burning in her throat.

A strong pressure started forming on her chest, and her knees buckled, making her fall to the ground. The air came out in short ragged breaths, she felt like there wasn't enough air to breathe in that room. She needed to get out, she had to breathe. Her eyes were watering and her vision was starting to fade. She was going to die in a fire, just like Laura did.

But just before it happened, the moment where she thought she was going to take her last breath and leave this nightmare and the real world forever, the smoke vanished and she found herself in a circular room surrounded by hospital beds. At the top of the room there were several windows that were iluminated by a revolving light, almost like... a beacon.

The thing that unnerved her the most was that she was feeling perfectly fine, no traces of the burning throat and watering eyes from before, had she hallucinated it? Had Ruvik provoked it willingly? Well, she could ask him, since he stood at the other side of the room with a blank look on his face, but his eyes told her otherwise.

"Ruvik."

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**_You're ugly, and these are crimes for which the world show little pity_ Just something that Dad of the year would say to his son :D**

**Leave reviews, favorite and follow if you like it!**


	21. Reunion

**I'm back! So sorry, but these past months I've been awfully sick and well, I didn't have time to write. By the way, I've already bought The Evil Within for PS3 and it is really amazing! Also it is giving me new ideas for this fic and a possible sequel.**

**Sorry for my grammar and vocabulary mistakes, I'll correct them when I have finished. **

**And thank you so much for all your encouragement!**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

Now that she stood in front of him, she found she had lost her ability to speak. No words emerged from her mouth nor did he started to speak. They just looked at each other intently. Through the corner of her eye she tried to look for a way to escape him, only to find dirty concrete walls, no door was visible. And the windows were too high for her to reach. She couldn't escape now, nor that she could be able to move faster than Ruvik. He would catch her before she was able to take a step.

She could feel her pulse on her ears, her heart drumming furiously at what would happen next. With every second that passed, she felt herself growing anxious and that barrier she had forced herself to build in her mind so she wouldn't break down was starting to crumble.

The putrid envioroment of bloddied walls with humidities, dirty rotten beds with pestilent red mass made her feel sick, if she approached one of them and took a good look she was sure she would see scratches.

Ruvik took a step, towards her, and then another and another, crossing the distance between them, his dead fish eyes looking at hers. He perfectly could kill her right now. She didn't think twice, pulled out her gun and pointed at him. She knew that if she shot, she would fail since he was already dead and it was impossible to destroy him, but at least it made her feel safer knowing she had something to defend herself.

That made Ruvik stop, and give her a small smirk. He didn't step out of the way, he knew she couldn't kill him.

"Are you going to shoot me?" There was a small hint of amusement on his voice he continued his walk towards her, slow and menacing like a predator to a prey, there was a glint of madness shinning in his eyes, the craziness only found on psychopaths who are about to have fun. Margarita felt even more anxious than before. With trembling hands she pulled the trigger and waited for the shot to be heard However, she felt a shiver ran down her spine when she found that there wasn't any single bullet left. Before she was able to react, Ruvik was in front of her in a blink, one of his hands forcefully grasping her chin so she could look directly into his eyes. She couldn't help but stare at the part of his brain that was showing, how had he managed to self experiment on his own brain? Judging by the small holes on his artificial skull, there had been several times.

"Do you know what dying feels like? You face death everyday of your life, but do you really know how you feel when you die?" She could feel his ice cold breath on her neck, tickling her skin. She tried to not flinch, reminding herself that he was just toying with her, it was impossible for dead people to have breath.

"That poor excuse of a detective has really put an effort into keeping us separated. Not that you didn't do anything to stop him. However, in a few moments he won't be an obstacle anymore."

"Ruvik, if you hurt him..." She whispered in rage.

"You want him?" His eyes gleamed with fury for a second, then his eyes emptied again of any kinf of emotion."If you want him to live so much, then I demand something in exchange for his pathethic life."

Margarita waited with her heart on her throat to his petition. Just looking at the way his eyes gleamed with madness made her shiver in fear. Ruvik looked at her seriously, his hold on her tightening as if he wanted to make sure she would never be taken away from him.

"In exchange for that detective I want you to fuse your mind, your sole being with me, so we can finally be one and be eternally together."

Her blood froze in her veins, and her mouth went dry.

"You are mad." She whispered, utter realization finally drawning in. He was far too gone for her to save, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't save him from himself, nothing she could say would make him change his mind and return to the boy she had known. He gave a small humourless chuckle.

"Mad? Soon you will be as mad as I am. "

She remained silent, but will each word he spoke the more she accepted he wasn't the Ruben she had known before and that she had barely known him afer all, there had always been more of him that he gave away to her. Ruben Victoriano had died on that fire along with his sister, those years of imprisonent had only served to create a monster. She couldn't let him have his way, Sebastian and Joseph had been right about him.

Ruvik backed her against a wall, still holding her. Margarita looked into his eyes, those cold glassy pools of grey that now were void of any emotion. He let her go and returned to the center of the room. Snapping his fingers a halo of light illuminated the room and the figure of her late father emerged from it. Margarita stifled a sob in her throat.

"My beautiful little girl..." Eduardo Hernandez widened his stance and opened his arms, as if expecting a hug from her. But Margarita wasn't planning to do it anytime soon because as tears ran down her face she convinced herself that that wasn't real. That this couldn't be happening, she had seen her father die, she had been at his funeral and burial, and when a lot of time had passed she had finally recovered from her loss.

"You could have your father again, I could bring him back to you if you desired , the only thing you have to do is give in and join me." Ruvik extended a hand towards her, expectant. Margarita didn't move, just kept looking at her father with a mixture of disbelief and pain. He decided to change his tactics. With a movement of his hand, several vines appeared from the ground and trapped Eduardo, choking him.

"I've already given you an option, however if you refuse..." Ruvik clenched his fist and the vines around her father's neck tightened, blood started to emmerge from the cuts in small torrents. A couple of minutes more and he would die from bloodloss or beheaded.

"My beautiful little girl..." He continued repeating. Margarita could feel the blood rushing to her ears. That wasn't true, that couldn't be...

Everything happened really fast after that. The last thing she remembered was clenching her fist so hard she left the red marks of her fingernails on her palm and then smashing it against Ruvik's prominent cheekbone, feeling a tiny bit of satisfaction when she heard the bones crack, even if they were her own.

Ruvik stumbled a couple steps back, his hand on the cheek she had punched. Margarita was breathing heavily.

"You are a miserable! A despicable monster! How dare you!" She said through clenched teeth. "I'd rather die than be with you!"

It felt like time had stopped at that moment, the image of Eduardo Hernandez was swallowed entirely by the vines and sank into the ground. The room turned even darker, the metal beds trembling as pulses of energy came from Ruvik. His eyes were now an electric grey that shone with rage and resentment. A high pitched scream echoed in the distance and Margarita's blood ran cold. The walls fell down, showing the bars that were behind them and revealing the room as something akin to a birdcage.

A huge clawed hand crossed the bars, trying to scratch her. She jumped and stepped back from the bars and walked around the room, making sure she didn't collide with the perturbed Ruvik, when she heard the piercing screech. As the body of the deformed Laura, which now had two arms less, came to view she felt like every hope was lost to her. Surrounding them, there was nothing but a deep darkness, a feeling of anxiety crept on her chest. She was caged, in the middle of nowhere for all eternity, with a monster that she had always considered a friend guarding her.

When she thought things couldn't go worst, Laura was teleported into the room with them.

"If she tries to escape..." He looked pointedly at her. " Just kill her."

The monstruous version of Laura titled her head in confusion, but seemed to agree to the terms giving the venomous glare she shot at her. Margarita took a step back, trying to not to show how much she was trembling.

Before vanishing, Ruvik turned to her one last time.

"I had hoped we didn't have to come to this point, but you still resist me. However, if I could find an adecuate host for myself, it shouldn't be very hard to find one for yourself. If I have to destroy everything you care for to keep you by my side, I will do it. We will be together no matter what happens."

He left, leaving her alone with that monster and ruining every chance she had of escaping. She looked at Laura, she had her gaze fixed in her, or at least that was what she thought because she could barely see her face behind all that mass of dirty black hair. As they stared at each other, an idea formed into her mind. Maybe she could have a chance to escape if she tried to appeal to her human side, because the real Laura wouldn't be that heartless to kill her, right?

"I... I am sorry for not being at his side when he needed me the most..." She started, doubtful. She still wasn't quite sure of how much of Laura this creature had, but she had to try, otherwise all of her and Sebastian's efforts to survive would be meaningless.

"I should have followed my instinct and tell anybody of what I have heard in your basement... Instead I run away like a coward." It seemed she had caught her attention. Good, her plan was working.

"I am a failure... I failed you and Ruben... I am not asking for forginess, because I know I don't deserve it... but I am begging you... please... help me get to him... I know I still have a chance to recover the old Ruben, because I feel he is still inside him... but if I don't save him from himself, I fear that in his rage an pain he will cause a great destruction for everyone."

She looked at Laura, hoping that her emotive speech had somehow reached her humanity o whatever was left of it. But Laura remained impassive, just looking at her with bright her green eyes. Margarita closed her eyes and clenched her fists in rage and desperation. How could she have been so foolish to believe that would have worked? Laura was probably as resentful as her brother, and how could she blame her?

She flinched when she felt a huge clawed hand grab her waist, and she surely did scream when she felt that very same hand lifting her into the air. Opening her eyes she saw that they were climbing towards the highest part of the cage, it seeemed that her words had reached her after all. When they reached the highest part, Laura pushed her against her chest and Margarita couldn't help but shiver, Laura's body was cold, very cold and it didn't have a pulse. But what could she expect from this place? Here, it was a miracle you found someone who had a pulse.

Laura's claws easily tore through the rotten bars and stepped outside with her hanging on her neck for dear life. She resisted when she felt herself being separated from her and plunged into the darkness. Margarita felt it envolving her, surrounding her, grabbing her with its cold tentacles, she screamed and squirmed and fought against its hold, but the more she resisted, the more she was absorbed. Until she didn't feel it anymore. The large tentacles had disappeared, she was not in the cage anymore. She... she had returned to the hospital! Behind her there was a large hall that lead towars some stairs, maybe if she went up she could find Sebastian and find a way to get out of there. As she sprinted towards the stairs, she noticed that the atmosphere in that area looked different, it looked so much like the calmness before the storm. somehow she felt that she was about to get to the place where everything would end.

And she wasn't wrong, because at the end of that stairs was the weirdest room she had ever been in and in the middle of it stood Sebastian.

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**Pheww! Another chapter done, it won't be too long before I start working on the next one. Hopefully I'll get it done during Christmas and before this year ends.**

**Leave reviews, favorite and follow if you like it!**


	22. The End

**I have no excuse for this. Well, yes... I am a lazy bastard. Hope you enjoy the final chapter! Don't worry for the mistakes, my dear beta will help me.**

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"Sebastian!" She gasped, running towards him. Margarita felt relieved, like if a huge weight had been lifted of her shoulders. Now that she knew he was alive they had more possibilities to find a way out and escape.

"Margarita! You don't know how glad I am of seeing you alive and well!" The detective grabbed her by the shoulders and made sure she was unharmed. What kind of defensor of the law would he be if he allowed an innocent civilian to get hurt under his watch?

"Well, yes... but I ran out of bullets..."

Sebastian shook his head and handed her some of his. "You are really not made for the battlefield, doc."

After finally convincing himself that she hadn't suffered any kind of damage he stepped aside and his tough guy façade returned.

Sebastian looked at their surroundings. It certainly was the strangest room he had ever been since this nightmare started, the huge glass panels of the walls gave them a perfect view of the darkness that surrounded them, it kinda reminded him of the Space Needle in Seattle, just not as creepy.

The only exits of that room, seemed to be the one she had entered in and another one in front of them. He moved towards it, but stopped when he saw that Margarita wasn't moving with her, in fact she looked thoughtful looking at the brain contained in the glass.

"I would have never imagined my life would end up like this. I've always thought that... Nevermind."

"No one's life ends up like they wanted to." Sebastian knew that eventhough they were said with good intentions those words wouldn't give any kind of comfort.

"I can't remember what my dream was when I was younger, however the only thing I wanted now was to be a mother and move away from Krimson to a better place where I could raise my child without worries. But now, I am really starting to doubt it."

Krimson, eventhough it had been her home since she started college and it was the city where her two closest friends lived, wasn't exactly a great place to live. There were always dark clouds caused by the pollution of the factories covering the entire sky, and it was a miracle if that day didn't rain. The dull colours of the buildings only contributed to boost that air of gloominess and emptyness. Despite the great police force they had, they crime rate was still very high, not a very safe place to raise your children. And her flat wasn't exactly a mansion to begin with.

"You'll make it. We will get out of here and you will move town is so full of shit it makes me want to puke." Sebastian reached for a cigarrete in his suitcoat pocket, then cursed when he realised he had none.

"Thanks." She said, a small smile adorning her features.

"Don't think about it."

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" Both turned to the frightful scream that emerged from the other opening. Leslie ran with Kidman following close behind. Leslie immediately hid behind Sebastian and seeked refuge in Margarita's arms, much to her chagrin. Sebastian pointed with his gun towards Kidman.

"Sebastian, get away from him." She ordered. He just pulled back the hammer of his gun. After every lie she had told them, why should he trust her? She was going to kill Leslie, and after what she had done with Joseph, he was sure she wouldn't have any problem killing them as well.

Juli looked desperate at Margarita, hoping she would help Sebastian see reason, but she just stood there, behind Sebastian with Leslie on her arms. She decided to try again with him.

"Sebastian, listen to me." She sighed. Convincing him after killing Joseph wouldn't be an easy task, but she had to try. "Stop, your interests are the same as ours."

Sebastian, indicated them with his free arm to get back further. "Look, I get it, you are not just some rookie detective and this is not just some ordinary kid. You killed Joseph and you shot me. So right at this moment that's enough for me not to trust you."

Margarita observed with rapt attention the confrontation between the two former allies. She frowned when Kidman said ours. What was she talking about? Who else knew about this place? Her eyes widened when she remembered Marcelo's words. "_Ruvik won't stop at nothing to get what he wants and that bothers us, Mobius."_

Was she referring about Mobius? Could she be working for them? She wasn't in the mood for playing detective right now, but she needed to know what was really happening here. What Ruben had gotten himself into.

"You are a good man. That's why I..." Kidman looked really tired of this place, probably as tired as Margarita was of this place. "Ugh... It doesn't matter anymore." Suddenly she turned serious."If you know who this kid is, if you know anything, you know why he can't be allowed to live."

"Bullshit." Sebastian interrupted her."It's Ruvik. He's the one that..."

Not letting him finish his sentence, the glass at the end of that tower started to glow and the same buzzing noise that had accompained her throughout all this nightmare resonated through the room, making Sebastian put his hands on his head. The entire room started to shake, and Margarita was forced to hold Leslie tighter to keep her balance.

The walls disappeared, leaving them in a plataform surrounded by dark stormy clouds. The tower, though it was originally creepy, turned into a giant brain covered with barbered wire. Her feet sank into what looked like jelly, she grimaced in disgust. The thunders roared furiously over them, a feeling of dread crept inside her, so she gripped her gun tighter towards her.

A splashing sound at her side caught her attention, that's when she noticed that Leslie wasn't with her anymore. Turning her body, she contemplated with horror how Leslie was heading in a daze towards the brain, where Ruvik was waiting for him.

"Leslie stop!" Sebastian and Margarita screamed, pleading with him. Leslie didn't hear them, and continued advancing towards Ruvik. He extended his arms towards him, expectantly.

"Please, don't do this!" Sebastian wasn't sure about who was Margarita pleading to, Ruvik or Leslie, but the only thing the young boy do was turn his head towards her one last time before letting himself be absorved into the brain.

"Leslie!" Sebastian screamed. Ruvik looked at them with an arrogant glare. Sebastian wanted to smash his head against a brick wall. All of them had to cover their ears when the brain let out an horrifying screech.

The ground started shaking again, and the room returned to the original glass aesthetic; but due to the earth quake the glass started to break and fall all over them, one fell near enough of Margarita to pull her eye out, however, thanks to luck she lost her balance and ended up slicing her cheek instead. The pain was great, but that wouldn't be nothing compared to what could happen to her if she didn't look where she stepped.

The platform started to turn over, making them fall to the ground.

"Margarita, hold on to something!" Sebastian screamed. But it was too late her hand slip and she fell downwards, in a futile attempt to grab her hand Sebastian felt himself being dragged along. The impact of their bodies, made the now turned down window shatter and break. They both fell down into nothingness.

The wind of the fall made her shut her eyes in pain. It was like trying to look at a fan without blinking. Sebastian tried to cover his face as best as he could but that didn't stop the feeling of being about to be smashed to death the only thing that crossed his mind in that moment was 'That's it, I'm gonna die.'.

However, the more they fell to the ground, the most he saw something growing up, like a flower. No, now that he took a better look at it, it was something more gross than a flower. A brain, a giant sticky brain. Chains started to surge from nowhere, covering the brain with their dark tips. And after that, a brilliant light nearly left him blind.

They fell down on the mushy organ, covering themselves in the gooey substance that covered it as they rolled. If Sebastian hadn't had caught her, she probably would have fallen into the abyss.

When Margarita dared to open her eyes again, everything around them had changed. Over a dark athmosphere, and all around them were floating fragments of all the places they had been in while trying to scape. Fragments of buildings, of roads and cars, of the hospital; it was surrealistic, almost crazy. But that shouldn't be surprising coming from this world.

However, that wasn't the thing that worried her the most about their current situation. What lied in front of them, was what would decide their destinies. To live, or to die... that was why they were going to fight for in this final stage.

There were no words to describe the creature that faced them, a fusion of many bodies, of many tortured minds that had ended up as puppets of a cruel experiment. One thing was clear, there was only one puppeteer in this show, and he was currently fused into the brain of the monster. Ruvik, was he even Ruvik right now? Or was he something else? Something more evolved and savage.

"Stay behind me!" Sebastian ordered her as the beast let out a preternatural roar that shook the entire plataform.

"But I can't let you fight that on your own while protecting me!" She stepped by his side, with her gun pointed towards the thing. Needless to say, she was scared out of her wits, her knees were shaking her hands sweated, but now it was her time to return the favor.

"I said... STAY BACK!" A huge tentacle with hand like characteristics was coming towards her at great speed, and it would have caught her if Sebastian hadn't pushed her out of the way. But instead of grabbing him, it launched him towards a nearby building, knocking him off.

"Sebastian!" She shouted. Now she was the one who had to protect him from Ruvik. Aiming her gun at his brain, she shot once, twice; trying in vain to break the hard glass that protected him from attacks. Ruvik titled his head at her, and slowly approached her. Margarita stepped back until she almost fell into the abyss. Ruvik, considering her harmless, centered his atenttion back to Sebastian.

"Sebastian! Sebastian wake up!" She cried as a barbed wire trapped her legs, preventing her from moving.

Sebastian slowly regained consciousness. Boy, his head throbbed like a thousand hungovers. What had happened? The ground shook when one of Ruvik's arms sank into the building. 'Oh... that happened...'

"Sebastian, look out!" He had been so confused that hadn't noticed the car flying towards him. He jumped to avoid the crash. The only escape he had now was to run fowards, so that's what he did. But Ruvik wasn't going to go easy on him. With every few steps he took, Ruvik's claws scratched the wall of the building, trying to tear him apart. Not even with his best efforts he could dodge the claws easily. Thanks to a wagon that went through the building, he managed to enter into another building that seemed to be some kind of school. He could see Ruvik's mouth roaring angrily at the hole he had hidden in. He was safe, for now.

Those few seconds of peace didn't last very long, since he soon found himself running again for his life as Ruvik's hands broke through the walls to trap him. It was getting harder to see, since Ruvik had increased his speed and he could barely see two inches in front of him because of the dust that floated in the air. Unexpectedly, an arm tore through the wall, sending Sebastian flying again into a floating van with a SMG attached to the top of the driver's cabin. 'How thoughtful of Ruvik to leave this here.' He thought.

Holding onto it as best as he could, Sebastian positioned himself in the SMG and aimed towards the creature's arms that came to trap him. "Die motherfucker!" The sound of the shots was deafening, but he could not care less at the moment, all that mattered was killing that asshole. At some point he started shooting aimessly at him, luckily breaking the glass that covered his brain, if he had been more careful he could have shot him right in the core of his mind. If he had been more careful, he would have noticed the arm that was coming towards him.

The giant hand grabbed the car, with Sebastian still on it and launched it towards the left. This time, Sebastian ended up impaled in one of the spines of the barbed wire. The pain he was feelt was unlike any other thing he had ever felt in all his policeman career, he thought as blood fell from his mouth. It was like every part of him was being torn apart and spread throughout all his body. He could consider himself lucky that it hadn't pierced his heart, but it had pierced his stomach.

Margarita looked with an horrified expression how the detective was left hanging on the spine. If he didn't die from bloodloss, Ruvik would make sure he didn't make it out alive. It would take only a few seconds before he noticed were he was hiding.

Sebastian tried his best to ignore the pain and looked at his surroundings. There must be something, anything that could help him fight Ruvik eventhough he was impaled. His salvation came when something fell down to his right. A corpse of someone that hadn't been as lucky as him had a very good looking rocket launcher. It wasn't an easy task to reach for it, specially in his condition, but if he caught it... then the battle would finally be fair. Ruvik seemed to finally noticed where he was and was slowly approaching towards him. With great effort, he finally managed to grab the rocket launcher, threwing the body to the ground in the proccess. He had only fourteen shots; good, that was better than nothing.

The first shot exploded in his gut, making him angrier. Ruvik increased his speed, reducing the time he had to fire the gun. An idea formed in his mind, if the core of his existence was the brain, then he would have to blow it up. However, Ruvik wasn't going to go let him carry on his plan so easily. Everytime he aimed for the head an arm with tentacle characteristics, would block the attack, suffering instead the consequences. Ruvik was getting closer and closer and Sebastian was getting more and more desperate. The pain from the wound and the bloodloss barely let him keep himself awake, and the rocket launcher felt like it weighed a million pounds. He couldn't give up, not after getting this far, for his mother's corpse he was going to make it.

He fired again.

And with great safisfaction observed how the rocket hit the brain, blowing it up and making Ruvik step back and roar in pain. Again, a tentacle ripped him from the thorn he was stuck into and launched him into the brain.

Sebastian didn't felt like getting up when his body collided with the sticky mass, however, Ruvik's body falling with him made him grumpily realise that the battle was far from over. And he was already drained of all his energies.

The creature opened his mouth, pretending to devour him. Ruvik, having been destituted from his main position, had seeked refuge in the mouth and was waiting eagerly to eat Sebastian so he could finally put an end to that horrible pain in the ass. However, he didn't count with one thing, and that was Margarita's loyalty to the tough detective, that was proved again when she threw him her gun.

"Sebastian! Use this!" Margarita knew that a simple gun like hers with only one bullet left wouldn't make a difference. But if she had learnt something during her stance there was that she had to try to survive until the very end, employing all the resources she could find.

Sebastian, in a desperate attempt to win the battle, aimed towards Ruvik's heart. Not the heart of the creature that he had been turned into but the man that was fused with it. He fired the gun, and the bullet tore through Ruvik's chest, but before he was able to move away, the creature's jaws had closed around him, engulfing him.

"No!" Margarita cried, tears forming on her eyes as she saw her ally, no after everything they had went through she could call him friend; being eaten by that creature. Yet, inside of the monster's mouth Ruvik seemed to be having a bad time. He withered and squirmed, crying in pain. His entire world was falling apart, the world that he had so carefully constructed thanks to his and his victims' memories. And all because of that obtrusive detective. But what really tore him apart was the fact that Margarita, his dear Margarita had helped him plan his downfall.

Feelings of resentment and rage filled the creature's body, swelling it into great proportions until it exploded, sending guts and blood everywhere. The only thing that crossed Margarita's mind before everything went black was 'I'm glad that we have won.'.

* * *

When she opened them again, she saw that she was in some kind of bathtub filled with a smelly liquid. That looked like the room she had seen when she had been with Doctor Jimenez. Was this the STEM? She noticed a slight pain on the back of her head, reaching for it, she noticed that there was some kind of tube attached to her head. Maybe that was what connected all of them together? Pulling it as hard as she could, she winced when it was released it would leave a wound that would later leave a scar but that would heal with time.

At her left, Sebastian seemed to have the same groggy awakening as her. But that didn't stop her from embracing him.

"Sebastian! I am so happy to see you alive and well!"

Sebastian, on the other hand could say that he was alive, but well... well was the last thing he was feeling. Yes, the hole in his stomach had disappeared as they gladly observed, however there was still that pain in his head that made him want to sleep and never wake up again.

"Yeahh... but I'm feeling as if I was dead..." He said as he tore the tube from his head. Carefully, he stepped out from the tube, and would have almost fell if Margarita hadn't caught him in time. But she was also having a hard time since Sebastian wasn't exactly a light weight and she also felt like her legs had been turned into jelly.

"The brain..." He muttered, waddling towards it. But before they were able to walk a little further, Ruvik appeared in front of them, not as a monster, not as an enemy. Just Ruvik. He looked at them with murder in his eyes.

"I created this world... You cannot keep me here!" However, he then turned to Margarita, the murder in his eyes being replaced with hurt. "You told me you would love me no matter what."

Margarita knew she would always love him no matter what.

"You are not that boy anymore."

But the one she was truly in love with was the Ruben Victoriano she remembered, not this psychotic murderer. Ruvik, for a second, looked lost, but then, the cold mask returned. He vanished, leaving them alone. Tambling, Sebastian unsteadily approached the machine at the center of the room. "I'm going to finish this..." He said. His gaze was one of determination. Nothing would stop him now, not that Margarita wasn't going to do anything, in fact she was as eager as he was to get out, if not more than him.

With a growl, he tore the glass ball from the machinery and threw it to the ground, breaking it into pieces. After that he just stomped on the last thing that remained of Ruvik, his brain. Everything had ended.

* * *

Margarita didn't remember much, only that when she woke up, she was really cold. Probably from the liquid she was floating in. She felt a hand shaking her shoulder and a male voice telling her to wake up. She reluctantly opened her eyes. She was in the same room she had awoken before, but it seemed more... normal. She gratefully accepted the hand Sebastian was offering her and exited the bathtub. It would take a few minutes for her legs to regain their strength, so meanwhile, she leaned on Sebastian for support, which wasn't a great option since he still had a limp.

The halls were suspiciously silent and they still reeked of murder, however it wasn't as strong as before. She also could hear voices, and police sirens. Could it really be? Could they be safe at last?

The answer came when the doors of the mental hospital banged open and a SWAT team let themselves in. Several Police officers and ambulances were cordoning off the area. As they exited the building, a police officer approached Sebastian while a group of paramedics took her off to attend her. As they put an orange blanket over her shoulders and disinfected the cut of her cheek, she started to feel reality crashing in. She had been kidnapped, taken to a nightmarish world, raped, chased, attacked, she could have had died in there if she hadn't been so lucky to find Sebastian.

"Ma'am, we need you to take deep breaths. Ma'am? Shit, Dave she's hyperventilating!"

One of the paramedics handed her a plastic bag. "Okay, breathe in and out, we are going to take you to a hospital to run some tests on you, alright?" Margarita was too busy trying to breath to notice the two men closing the doors of the ambulance. The streets passed yet she didn't seem to care, everything around her didn't feel real, it was too beautiful to be real. So long she had been trapped there that she now find hard to believe she was out there for real.

At the hospital, as the doctor went to examine her analysis, it started raining, slowly but steadily she walked towards the window and opened it. A wave of fresh air hit her in the face, and she closed her eyes. If this wasn't the real world, it certainly felt pretty real for her.

* * *

Sebastian exited the room he had been assigned, being careful enough to not be very noticed. Yes, the doctor had told him that his sutures were very recently and that he had to wait until he came with the crutches, but fuck that. He had to check on Margarita.

Limping, he approached the office where a bored looking nurse stood playing with her phone. For a brief moment he remembered Tatiana and wondered what had happened to her. Was she another victim? Or a ghost he had created to keep himself sane in that place?

"Excuse me miss..." He started, but the nurse ignored him, too busy with her phone. Sebastian didn't like her attitude, not one bit; he was trying really hard to not snap at her and maybe swear a little bit. But this girl was making it very difficult for him. He cleared his throat an finally she deigned to look at him.

"How may I help you sir?" She said, sounding like she would rather have him gone. She wasn't exactly the best person to spend time with.

"I'm looking for Margarita Hernandez's room, she entered this morning as I did."

"Are you a familiar?"

"More or less, I'm the guy who saved her."

"Good for you." She muttered. "Here it is, room 209 on the second floor." She sounded proud of herself even when didn't put much effort looking for it. Not bothering to say a simple thank you, he limped towards the stairs, because God help him, he was never going to take an elevator again. You never knew where those things led you.

After several minutes of going up and stopping every few steps due to the pain and the stitches, he finlly made it to the second floor. He took his time to catch his breath, after those stitches were gone he would have to train to build up that lost stamina.

Her room was quite easy to find, the impairs on the left, the pairs on the right. However, it was kinda strange not seeing those halls bloody and decomposing. He guessed the STEM had had a really negative effect on him.

He found Margarita up, looking at the rain. The room was chilly, but she didn't seem to care at all.

"How are you feeling?"

She turned back to look at him and smiled. She looked really tired, probably as tired as he was feeling inside. Otherwise, she seemed to be fine.

"They have run several tests on me, I suppose that's what you get when you disappear for more than two weeks."

"Have you called anyone to let them know you are here?"

She nodded. "My friends. They will be here in less than half an hour."

They stood in silence. What could they say after everything that had happened? A doctor entered the room, breaking the silence. Needless to say, she was quite stunned when she saw Sebastian in there.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Sebastian raised his hands in surrender. "Just another patient visiting a friend. The nurse at the office down there, told me I could pay her a visit."

"Well, you shouldn't be here while she is recovering. However you don't have to worry, she'll be released soon since she and the baby seem to be handling themselves pretty well."

Margarita fell her entire world crash down when she heard that one word. "W-what baby?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"Oh, you didn't know? We found hCG which is the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone in your analysis. Congratulations!"

Sebastian, though surprised at first, couldn't help but feel happy for Margarita, her dream of being a mother would be finally achieved. However that happiness faded away when he noticed Margarita's pale face and shaking hands.

"Margarita? Are you ok?"

But Margarita wasn't listening, all she could think about where a pair of cold grey eyes and a sardonic smile aiming at her. How could she be so stupid? No matter how hard she tried there would always be something that tied her to the STEM. And that something was Ruvik's baby. Exiting the STEM pregnant had let him out, which was what he initially had wanted.

Now she knew she couldn't escape him. Because nobody did.

* * *

**Thanks for being patient with me, I love you so much! Please enjoy and review!**


	23. Epilogue

**I really believed I had finished the story... well, here it goes.**

It was an unusually bright day for a dark hole like Krimson. Maybe it could represent the beginnings of a bright new future. However, after everything she had been through, Margarita could barely notice anything bright around her.

A dog barked nearby and she almost jumped in her spot, tensing her muscles and putting a hand over her protuding belly. Even when she knew that the animal was too far away to hurt her, she wasn't calm. She doubted she would ever be calm and relaxed again. Everything was a threat, anyone could suddenly turn into a rageful zombie and launch towards her.

After almost six months into a pregancy, which she had told her friends that had been the consequence of a careless one night stand, which was hard to believe coming from her, everyone had really expected her to recover and move on with her life, but she couldn't. She couldn't move on, she would never move on. They couldn't understand the horrors she had been forced to foresee, only Sebastian knew, only he understood the terrifying truth.

Sometimes she wondered why she hadn't taken an abortion. Everytime she felt the baby moving, she remembered that horrible experience that had scarred her for life. Maybe it was because she had already been through so much death, however, wasn't that her job? To work with the dead? But she hadn't put those corpses on the morgue slab, had she? She didn't want to become a killer, and even if that child had been the result of the most painful betrayal she believed it wasn't really their fault. She would care for that baby even if it killed her to ensure they didn't become their father.

The moving man discharged the last of her boxes into the truck and cleaned his forehead. "Well I guess that was the last one, miss. Whenever you want we'll be going." Margarita took one last look to the one that had been her home for so many years, considering that now it didn't feel like a home to her. Seraphina had done everything she could to hide the evidence but she knew better. Ruvik's dark essence had impregnated every wall, it was almost intoxicating. It had been hard living there the first months after her experience on the STEM before deciding on looking for a new home. But after that, she knew she had done the right decision. She could barely breathe there, less sleep at night. But now that she had found a perfect place to live on the outskirts of Krimson, she could finally partially free herself from the grasp he seemed to have over her.

She had considered calling Sebastian to help her move out, but thought better about it. He had already done enough for her during and before her pregnancy. She knew he had his own problems to deal with, even though they could always rely on each other due to the bond or curse that had unwittingly joined them.

Without giving a second glance towards the old building she got in the truck and let it take her towards what she expected was a brighter future, if not for her, for her unborn child.

* * *

The truck drove away, but he keep looking at the spot where she had been standing, hiding in the shadows, as always. He knew that would only fuel his anger, to keep track of the woman he had loved and betrayed him for that detective and his unborn spawn. But how could he not?

His heart pumped with rage on his chest. Again that contristing feeling that tensed his body and clouded his mind. That familiar rage, his only faithful companion when he had no one else to turn to. However, that feeling could only be shadowed by the hard Sting that was the betrayal of someone he had loved so much.

He had been an incorporeal being, then, unable to gave her a family, unable to pay her enough atention due to his plans. And then Sebastian had come along, trashing everything, destroying everything he had so carefully planned, taking Margarita away from him, forming a new family with her in hopes of escaping of a past that he felt guilty of.

But now, those plans had been torn into shreds.

Well then. Let's his revenge begin.

**I hope you have enjoyed the story, thank you all so much for reading it! Also, I am already thinking of a sequel (but I don't know if I should wait to the supposed sequel of the game to adapt it to this fanfiction...) Anyway, the keywords for this story is that nothing is what it seems... Bye!**


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